Reform UK has launched an investigation into whether it underpaid VAT on thousands of pounds of ticket and merchandise sales.
The party said it was reviewing its tax affairs after an investigation from the Times claimed it may have breached the law and could face a fine from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
Political parties are required to pay VAT on certain activities such as ticket and merchandise sales over the value of £90,000.
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Nigel Farage’s party reportedly exceeded this threshold last autumn following tickets sales for its conference in Birmingham this year.
The Times reports that filings published by the party in August showed that it made £438,296 from “merchandise sales and events” in 2024.
A spokesperson for the party said: “We are currently in the process of fully reviewing our position in respect of VAT with the assistance of our appointed specialist VAT advisers.”
The perhaps unique aspect of this story is that it seems to be a completely genuine error from Reform – they seem to have had simply no idea that you’re meant to pay VAT on stuff you sell.
In a thread on X, tax expert Dan Neidle theorised that Reform thought political parties were exempt from paying VAT.
He explained that whilst political donations aren’t taxable, “if a political party sells a baseball cap, the VAT is the same as when M&S do.”
Neidle estimated that Reform would end up with a VAT bill “in the region of £40k” from HMRC.
We just hope the irony of Reform apparently having no idea about tax rules just a few weeks after the Angela Rayner saga is not lost on many of you…