Nigel Farage is reportedly using a private company for payments from his GB News appearances in order to pay less tax.
A report in the Guardian on Friday says that Farage’s GB News earnings for his prime-time show are paid to his company, Thorn in the Side Ltd. This means he pays 25 per cent corporation tax on the profits instead of 40 per cent income tax.
The Guardian reports that this could also allow the Clacton MP to offset some expenses.
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According to the publication, Farage is the director and only shareholder of Thorn in the Side Ltd.
The latest accounts for the company show it had £1.7m in cash in May, up by more than £1m in the past year. Since last year’s general election, the Reform leader has made more than £400,000 from his GB News work, along with his £94,000-a-year MP salary.
A spokesman for Farage said: “Thorn in the Side Ltd has traded for 15 years and has a variety of interests. It renders the services of several contractors and is a properly functioning company.”
The use of personal service companies to be used by TV stars to reduce their tax bills has been criticised in the past. Whilst it doesn’t break any laws, broadcaster such as the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 have cracked down on the practice in recent years.
HMRC has also tightened the rules around off-payroll working (IR35) to stop this kind of tax avoidance. The likes of Gary Lineker and Adrian Chiles have previously been chased by HMRC over their use of limited companies.
Farage has previously called people who try to avoid tax the “common enemy”, and the revelation came just hours before Angela Rayner resigned from government for failing to pay enough stamp duty on her East Sussex flat.
After Rayner admitted she had underpaid stamp duty on a seaside flat, Farage said: “I don’t see how she can survive this.”
Friday marks the start of Reform’s party conference in Birmingham, with Farage due to give a speech at 4pm about the party’s future plans.