Richard Tice faces demand to 'urgently explain' himself over £91k tax claim

Richard Tice faces demand to 'urgently explain' himself over £91k tax claimRichard Tice is facing demands to “urgently explain” himself over allegations his company broke the law by failing to pay more than £90,000 in taxCommentsNewsSophie Huskisson Political Correspondent15:05, 12 Apr 2026View 2 ImagesRichard Tice is facing demands to “urgently explain” himself over allegations his firm failed to pay tax(Image: PA)Richard Tice is facing demands to “urgently explain” himself over allegations his company broke the law by failing to pay more than £90,000 in tax.‌Reform UK’s deputy leader reportedly failed to pay a required levy on dividends before they were channelled to him and his offshore trust.‌Mr Tice, who is the business, trade and energy spokesman for Nigel Farage’s party, received at least £91,000 in excess payments because of the alleged failure, according to the Sunday Times.‌The allegations relate to his property investment firm Quidnet REIT Ltd, which is said to have gained a rare legal status known as REIT (a real estate investment trust).REITs are exempt from paying corporation tax during a grace period. Firms with the status instead issue a portion of a company's earnings to shareholders, who are then taxed individually.READ MORE: Reform chief faces demand to 'urgently' respond to '£600k tax avoidance' claimView 2 ImagesLabour’s chair Anna Turley said the situation was a “major scandal”(Image: PA Wire)‌The Times said the law requires REITs to deduct a proportion of dividends - known as withholding tax - before making payments to shareholders. This is then charged at the 20% basic rate of income tax.Mr Tice's firm allegedly broke this law by failing to hold back tax before paying shareholders on at least three occasions between 2020-2021. The Sunday Times claimed that overall Mr Tice did not deduct tax from dividends, which were worth around £456,000, leading to a tax shortfall of around £91,200.Mr Tice insisted he...