Nigel Farage is using a private company to reduce his tax bill on his GB News media appearances and other outside employment in a television star-style arrangement that has in recent years become frowned on by major broadcasters.<\/p>\n
The Reform UK leader diverts money from his prime-time TV show into his company, which means that he paid only 25% corporation tax on profits, instead of 40% income tax, and could offset some expenses.<\/p>\n
The Clacton MP, who is also paid a \u00a394,000-a-year MP\u2019s salary, has in the past criticised people who try to avoid tax as the \u201ccommon enemy\u201d and has previously come under fire for setting up a trust fund<\/a> in an offshore tax haven.<\/p>\n He has also claimed that some tax avoidance schemes were acceptable<\/a>. \u201cMost forms of legal tax avoidance are OK, but clearly some are not,\u201d he said in 2014, adding that nobody voluntarily paid anything to HMRC while defending reducing a tax bill within the law.<\/p>\n Farage claimed last year to have \u201cbought a house\u201d in his constituency, but the property is actually owned in the name of his partner, meaning he legally avoided higher-rate stamp duty<\/a> on the purchase of an additional home \u2013 given that he already owns other properties.<\/p>\n The use of personal service companies is not illegal, but it has been criticised across the political spectrum as a way to reduce tax bills. Farage has declined to publish his tax returns for 2023\/24.<\/p>\n Several broadcasters including the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 have cracked down on the practice in recent years. HMRC has repeatedly tightened the rules around off-payroll working (IR35) to stop this kind of tax avoidance.<\/p>\n The parliamentary register of interests shows that Farage has made nearly \u00a3400,000 from GB News<\/a> since August 2024, for about 190 hours\u2019 work. This suggests he is being paid more than \u00a32,000 an hour by the news channel.<\/p>\n All payments for his GB News work are paid directly to his company, Thorn in the Side Ltd, of which he is the director and only shareholder. He has other paid roles including as a brand ambassador for gold bullion firms, speaking on the international circuit, and a Daily Telegraph column.<\/p>\n The latest accounts show that as of 31 May 2024, the company had \u00a31.7m in cash, up over \u00a31m in a year. It also owns two investment properties.<\/p>\n As Farage\u2019s profile has soared with the rise of Reform UK, so has the value of the company, which is now worth \u00a32.6m, up \u00a32m from 2021.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Farage said: \u201cThorn 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Farage has not been overly critical of Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, saying \u201cjolly good luck to her\u201d when she was criticised by the Tories over her tax affairs over the summer. However, after it emerged that she had underpaid stamp duty<\/a> on a seaside flat, he said: \u201cI don\u2019t see how she can survive this.\u201d<\/p>\n