Nigel Farage is reportedly using a private company for payments from his GB News appearances and other employment outside of parliament.
Payments for the Reform UK leader’s appearances on his prime-time show are made to his company, meaning he pays only 25 per cent corporation tax on the profits instead of 40 per cent income tax. It could also allow Mr Farage to offset some expenses, The Guardian reported.
Money for his GB News work goes directly to his company, Thorn in the Side Ltd, of which he is the director and only shareholder, according to the newspaper.
Its latest accounts show that it had £1.7m in cash in May, up by more than £1m in the past year. He has made more than £400,000 working for the TV channel since the general election, being paid more than £2,000 an hour for his appearances.
A spokesman for Mr 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.”
Mr Farage has previously criticised people trying to avoid tax as a “common enemy” and faced criticism for setting up a trust fund in an offshore tax haven, a move he later described as “a mistake”.
But he has said “most forms of legal tax avoidance are ok, but clearly some are not”.
Broadcasters have come under fire in the past for allowing stars to reduce their tax bills by being paid through personal service companies.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has previously chased Gary Lineker over payments received from the BBC and BT Sport via a limited company, with the taxman arguing he should have been classed as an employee.
Adrian Chiles has also faced a legal battle with tax officials, with HMRC arguing his presenting work should have been handled as employment and not paid to his personal service company.
Mr Farage’s arrangement emerged on the eve of Reform’s annual conference in Birmingham. The Reform leader rallied activists and MPs with the claim a general election could come as soon as 2027.
And he unveiled the party’s latest scalp from the Conservatives, with ex-cabinet minister Nadine Dorries declaring “the Tory party is dead” and joining Reform.
