Former chancellor Nadhim Zahawi has confirmed to the BBC that he has paid nearly £5 million to the authorities to settle his tax affairs.
The settlement was related to an investigation by HMRC into the allocation of shares in YouGov, the opinion polling company he founded before becoming an MP.
Al-Zahawi expressed his regret for the lack of frankness in his ministerial announcement regarding the tax settlement. He acknowledged that he should have provided more details about how the settlement was reached. However, he confirmed that HMRC had identified the error as unintentional and classified it as a “negligent error”.
The controversy over Mr Zahawi's taxes led to his removal as Conservative Party leader in January last year, following an ethics investigation launched by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The investigation concluded that Mr Zahawi had not adequately disclosed his tax affairs being investigated by HMRC, and concluded that there had been a serious breach of the Ministerial Code.
Al-Zahawi, who announced that he will step down as MP for Stratford-on-Avon in the next election, admitted that responsibility for his mistakes lies with him. He expressed his regret for not providing sufficient information about the tax settlement in his ministerial announcement.