Calls Grow for Tice Resignation Over REIT Tax Withholding Failure

Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice faces growing calls to resign after his property investment firm, Quidnet REIT Ltd, failed to withhold and pay approximately £91,000 in tax on dividends distributed to him and an offshore trust in Jersey between 2020 and 2021.

The allegations, detailed in reports from investigative journalists, center on Quidnet's status as a real estate investment trust, or REIT. Under UK law, REITs are exempt from corporation tax on rental income during an initial grace period, provided they distribute at least 90 percent of profits as dividends to shareholders, who then pay income tax individually. However, the legislation requires REITs to deduct a 20 percent withholding tax from certain dividends before payment and remit it to HM Revenue and Customs, or HMRC. According to the reports, Quidnet distributed around £456,000 in dividends without deducting the levy on at least three occasions, resulting in the shortfall. Tice, who founded and owns the company, received the payments personally and through the trust.

Tice has rejected the claims, stating that he paid all taxes due on the dividends at the highest rate and that HMRC ultimately received the correct...