The deputy prime minister says Tory Party chairman Nadhim Zahawi has been “open” about his tax problems following news that he paid the penalty to HMRC.
Mr Zahawi is under investigation for allegedly attempting to evade paying taxes and has now been order to pay it back as part of a multi-million-pound settlement.
Dominic Raab inform the BBC that “all the tax owed has been paid” and that any additional questions should be sent to Mr Zahawi.
But Labour’s Angela Rayner said the ex-chancellor should be sack.
The BBC has approached Mr Zahawi for exposition on the latest allegations.
The company at the centre of the row is Balshore Investments, registered offshore in Gibraltar.
Mr Zahawi has been question about whether he used Balshore to hold shares in YouGov, the polling firm he co-founded in 2000, something he has always denied.
According to the Guardian, he had to pay back the tax he owed plus a 30% penalty, totalling £4.8 million.
The BBC could not verify the sum, although when queried repeatedly about the penalty by the Guardian, Mr Zahawi’s spokesperson did not deny that one had been paid.
When asked about the total amount, which was assum to include the supposed penalty, the spokesperson stated: “This sum is unknown to Nadhim Zahawi… As previously mentioned, his taxes are correctly declare and paid in the United Kingdom.”
Mr Zahawi “has been upfront about the fact that all of the tax has been paid and he doesn’t have any tax owing,” the deputy PM said on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
He has categorically said that all of his tax obligations to HMRC are current and paid in full, according to Mr Raab.
“I’m convinced he’ll do so if he needs to respond to any additional questions.”
Asked whether Mr Zahawi should address the problem in Parliament, Mr Raab said: “That’s a matter for him”.
Meanwhile, Labour’s deputy executive told the BBC Mr Zahawi’s “story doesn’t add up”.
The position of the man who, until recently, oversaw the UK’s tax system and whom this prime minister nominated as the Conservative Party Chair is now untenable,” Ms Rayner continued.
Someone remarked, “Rishi Sunak needs to ignore Nadhim Zahawi from his cabinet right now and put his money where his mouth is.”
The fact that Nadhim hasn’t been talking to me on the radio adds salt to injury, she said.
