Reform UK’s deputy leader is facing pressure to promptly clarify reports suggesting he avoided paying close to £600,000 in corporation tax. Richard Tice allegedly sidestepped corporation tax payments for his property company, Quidnet Reit Ltd, over a three-year span by securing a special legal status for the firm.

Tice, also serving as Reform’s Business, Trade, and Energy spokesperson, maintains that he has abided by the regulations. The accusations against the Reform MP involve alleged tax avoidance through the listing of his company on the Guernsey stock exchange and seeking real estate investment trust (REIT) status.

Although Tice’s firm reportedly did not meet the required criteria for REIT status, a legal loophole enabled it to gain this status from 2018 to 2021, exempting it from paying corporation tax during that period. Instead, companies with REIT status distribute earnings to shareholders who are then individually taxed.

However, Tice’s ownership structure purportedly directed portions of the company’s earnings into an offshore trust and dormant businesses. Quidnet no longer holds REIT status. Labour’s chair, Anna Turley, emphasized the need for Tice to provide explanations to the public and HMRC regarding his tax practices.

In response, Tice defended Quidnet as a UK company adhering to UK tax laws and highlighted that seeking REIT status is common among property firms. He stressed the legitimacy of having a diverse range of shareholders, including directors, within a UK company.

Tice further asserted that having a successful businessman with expertise in generating profits for shareholders overseeing the business, trade, and energy sector should offer reassurance to voters. He suggested that effective business leadership could have potentially averted the current economic challenges the country faces.