Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has declined to say whether he has ever paid a penalty to the taxman.
Asked whether he had ever paid a penalty to HM Revenue and Customs, he said at an event hosted by Bloomberg: “I’m not going to talk about my personal tax affairs, but I don’t think there’s anything you’d find interesting to write about if I can put it that way.”
Meanwhile, a former Conservative Party chairman has called on Nadhim Zahawi to “step aside” whilst he is investigated over his tax affairs.
Sir Jake Berry said on BBC Question Time that standing down for the period of the investigation would be the “right thing to do now.”
“The government needs to find a mechanism for ministers and MPs who are under investigation in this way to step aside, to clear their name and then to come back into government if that is appropriate”, Sir Berry added.
Mr Zahawi has now allowed HMRC to pass his tax details to the prime minister’s ethics advisor.
A source close to Mr Zahawi said that he has now given HMRC permission to speak to Sir Laurie Magnus who is investigating whether his actions represented a breach of the Ministerial Code of Conduct.
