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Dan Neidle

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Dan Neidle
NationalityBritish
Alma mater
Occupation(s)Tax lawyer and writer
Websitetaxpolicy.org.uk

Dan Neidle is a British tax lawyer and commentator, who researches and writes on issues of tax law and tax policy. He founded Tax Policy Associates, a non-profit[1] which advises policymakers and journalists on tax policy.[2]

Neidle worked as a tax lawyer at international law firm Clifford Chance for 23 years, becoming its UK head of tax in 2020.[3] Described by taxation law specialist Jolyon Maugham[4] and tax publication ITR[5] as possibly the UK's leading tax lawyer, his practice covered tax, cryptocurrency,[6] public law and Brexit.[7] He has been critical of schemes used by prominent individuals and companies to avoid tax,[8][9][10][11] in favour of increased HMRC prosecution of aggressive tax avoidance and evasion,[12] and in favour of windfall taxes on oil and gas producers[13] (but did not support the investment allowances proposed in the UK Government's 2022 oil and gas windfall tax, saying they were just "giving money away"[14]).

Neidle advised industry groups on the 2019 Labour Party proposals to nationalise utilities, and was critical of the suggestion that investors would receive less than market value compensation.[15][16][17] Neidle was also dismissive of Labour's 2019 tax proposals, saying there could be a £20bn revenue hole in its plans.[18]

Tax Policy Associates

Neidle retired from Clifford Chance in May 2022 to spend time with his family[19] and found Tax Policy Associates.[20][21]

Akshata Murty's non-dom status

In April 2022, Neidle became involved in the controversy over the tax status of Akshata Murty, the wife of then-Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak. It had been reported that Murty was a non-dom, and therefore – whilst a UK resident – was not taxed on the significant dividends she received from Infosys, the large Indian IT company founded by her father. Initially Murty claimed that this was an inevitable consequence of her being an Indian national who had moved to the UK; Neidle described this claim as incorrect[22] and "a disgrace",[23] saying that in fact a person had to actively claim to be taxed on this basis. In Neidle's view, Murty's position raised a question as to whether the Chancellor had a conflict of interest, given he was responsible for the UK's tax rules.[24] Neidle then raised wider questions as to whether the non-dom regime made sense, calling it a "bizarre disincentive on UK investment".[25]

In May 2022, Neidle published a report revealing the scale of UK taxpayers' holdings in offshore accounts, and criticised HMRC for not using this data to estimate the scale of offshore tax evasion.[26][27] HMRC subsequently agreed to produce and publish estimates.[28]

In September 2022, Neidle argued that the way former chancellor Rishi Sunak had structured the energy profits levy (or "windfall tax") announced in May meant that at least £5bn of potential tax revenues had been lost.[29]

Later that year, International Tax Review listed Neidle as one of the 50 most influential people in the world of tax policy and business.[30]

Nadhim Zahawi

In July 2022, Neidle published a report[31][32] suggesting that the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Nadhim Zahawi, had used an offshore trust, owned by his parents, to hold his founder stake in YouGov, when he founded it with Stephan Shakespeare in 2000.[33] Neidle's view was that the Chancellor was ultimately responsible for the UK tax code, and that the public had a right to know if there were specific and obscure provisions of that code from which he personally benefits.[34][35]

Zahawi initially explained the offshore holding by saying that his father had provided YouGov with startup capital. Neidle analysed YouGov's filings and found no evidence that this was the case. In Neidle's view this meant that either he had made a mistake, YouGov's filings were wrong, or Zahawi was lying.[36] Zahawi did not respond, but then provided a new explanation for the offshore holding: that Zahawi "had no experience of running a business at the time and so relied heavily on the support and guidance of his father, who was an experienced entrepreneur".[37] Neidle responded to this by accusing[38] Zahawi of lying.[39] In response, Zahawi instructed law firm Osborne Clarke to write to Neidle asking him to retract his accusation by the end of the day.[40] The letter was stated to be without prejudice, and Osborne Clarke asserted that he was not entitled to publish the letter, or even refer to it, and it would be a "serious matter" if he did.[2]

Neidle did not retract, but instead set out his reasoning in more detail. Osborne Clarke responded with a second letter, which claimed it was not a libel threat, but Neidle nevertheless interpreted as a libel threat.[41] Neidle believed that the assertions of confidentiality were false,[42][43] and that the letters were an attempt to intimidate him, and he therefore published the letters.[44][2] Neidle also wrote to the Solicitors Regulation Authority asking them to outlaw the practice of lawyers writing libel letters and claiming they were confidential and could not be published.[45][46] Richard Moorhead, Professor of Law and Professional Ethics at the University of Exeter, wrote that, in claiming that their letters could not be published, Osborne Clarke may have been (knowingly or recklessly) complicit in an attempt to mislead Neidle. Moorhead agreed with Neidle that the SRA should take a hard look at claims of confidentiality in SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) letters.[47]

The Times' legal editor, Jonathan Ames described the situation as ironic, given that the Government had just published draft legislation that would crack down on strategic lawsuits against public participation.[48]

In January 2023, The Guardian was told that, the previous month, Zahawi had agreed a "contractual settlement" with HMRC, paying £3.7m of tax and a 30% penalty, plus interest.[49] Neidle had estimated in July 2022 that the tax Zahawi owed was £3.7 million.[49][50]

References

  1. ^ "In praise of financial professionals who turn into sleuths". The Economist. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
  2. ^ a b c "The murky case of the tax expert, the Chancellor and his lawyers". New Statesman. 29 July 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  3. ^ "Office openings and major moves this week". law.com. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  4. ^ @JolyonMaugham (Jul 16, 2022). "Tweet" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  5. ^ White, Josh (15 December 2022). "ITR Global Tax 50 2022: Dan Neidle". ITR. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  6. ^ "Lawyers warn of Facebook's Libra tax risks in Europe". Financial Times. July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  7. ^ "Fees, challenges & skillsets: An interview with Matthew Dwyer". Diagnostax. 3 May 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  8. ^ "Taxman under fire for failing to probe Uber stance on VAT". Financial Times. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  9. ^ "Court of Appeal finds firm negligent for failing to warn over risk of tax avoidance scheme". Legal Futures. 12 December 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  10. ^ "Recruitment advisers' tax scheme liquidated after HMRC asks questions". The Guardian. 10 July 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  11. ^ "John McDonnell pledges crackdown on City 'enablers' of tax avoidance". City AM. 15 September 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  12. ^ "One minute with... Dan Neidle". Tax Journal. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  13. ^ Gwyther, Matthew. "Spectre of windfall tax returns to spook Big Oil". The Times. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  14. ^ "Energy (Oil and Gas) Profits Levy Bill". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Lords. July 13, 2022. col. 1559–1559.
  15. ^ "Nationalisation plans will bring more than howls of outrage". Guardian. 15 May 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  16. ^ Burton, Lucy; Wallace, Tim (18 November 2019). "Investors condemn Corbyn's nationalisation plans as ' blatant breach of human rights'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  17. ^ "If governments want to nationalise, they need to pay market value". Financial Times. 31 May 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  18. ^ Bourne, Ryan (28 November 2019). "The Labour manifesto is a lifetime tax bombshell for ordinary families". The Telegraph. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  19. ^ "Clifford Chance's former tax head is having the time of his life". The Lawyer. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  20. ^ "Clifford Chance appoints new London head of tax, pensions, employment, and incentives". legal brief. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  21. ^ ""A lockdown decision": CC's tax chief steps down". legal brief. 4 November 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  22. ^ "Claims from Chancellor's wife over non-dom status are untrue, says tax lawyer". The National. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  23. ^ "Akshata Murty: non-dom claim of Rishi Sunak's wealthy wife is a 'disgrace'". The Times. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  24. ^ "Tax experts attack UK chancellor's wife's 'disingenuous' defence of non-dom status". Financial Times. 7 April 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  25. ^ "Labour pledges to scrap non-dom tax break after Rishi Sunak's wife status revealed". Independent. 24 April 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  26. ^ "UK admits it has no idea how much tax is being evaded through offshore assets". Financial Times. 29 May 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  27. ^ "Brits have £570bn in offshore accounts". International Adviser. 9 June 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  28. ^ "HMRC to publish estimates of UK offshore tax evasion". Financial Times. 15 July 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  29. ^ "Liz Truss's obstinacy spells trouble for energy too". Financial Times. 6 October 2022. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
  30. ^ "ITR Global Tax 50 2022: Dan Neidle". International Tax Review. 15 December 2022. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  31. ^ "Did Nadhim Zahawi use an offshore trust to avoid almost £4m of capital gains tax?".
  32. ^ "Did Nadhim Zahawi use an offshore trust to avoid almost £4m of capital gains tax?". Tax Policy Associates. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  33. ^ "Pressure builds on Nadhim Zahawi to explain his finances". Financial Times. 10 July 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  34. ^ "Zahawi urged to explain source of £26m mystery loans". Guardian. 17 July 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  35. ^ "Nadhim Zahawi: nothing to see here". Financial Times. 15 July 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  36. ^ "UK Chancellor Accused Of Tax Dodging". Law 360. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  37. ^ "Nadhim Zahawi 'may have avoided millions in tax with trust'". The Times. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  38. ^ @DanNeidle (Jul 16, 2022). "Tweet" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  39. ^ Thompson, Matt (25 July 2022). "UK Chancellor Accused Of Tax Dodging - Law360". www.law360.com. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  40. ^ "U.K. Chancellor Seeks Retraction From Tax Policy Nonprofit". Tax Notes International. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  41. ^ "Chancellor legal letters reject tax 'smears'". AccountingWEB. 27 July 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  42. ^ "Nadhim Zahawi sends 'threatening' letters to online tax critic". The Times. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  43. ^ "Tax Expert Taps SRA Over Osborne Clarke Libel Letters". Law 360. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  44. ^ "The Chancellor's secret libel letters". Tax Policy Associates. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  45. ^ "Former CC partner writes to SRA over Zahawi 'threat' letter". Law Society Gazette. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  46. ^ "Former Clifford Chance Partner Calls On SRA To End "Secret Libel Letters"". law.com. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  47. ^ "Schrödinger's Threats". Richard Moorhead's blog. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  48. ^ Ames, Jonathan. "Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi 'told solicitors to send Slapp letter'". The Times. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  49. ^ a b "Pressure on ex-chancellor over seven figure tax bill and penalty from HMRC". The Herald. 20 January 2023. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  50. ^ Neidle, Dan (20 January 2023). "How I cost Nadhim Zahawi £3.7million". The New European. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
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