Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Tory donor Lycamobile mired in tax disputes

Lycamobile, which has been a major Tory donor, is mired in three disputes with British tax authorities over unpaid dues.

The disputes related to corporation tax, VAT, PAYE and national insurance are spread over the past eight years, says a report in The Guardian.


Recently, HMRC issued an official demand under anti-tax avoidance laws in one case, while another one related to VAT has been referred to a tribunal.

The VAT dues alone amounted to £60 million, said the report. But the overall figure Lycamobile would have to pay if it loses the disputes is not clear, as HMRC does not comment on tax issues of individuals or companies and the telecom has not divulged details of its internal assessment.

Lycamobile maintains that it does not owe the taxes demanded by HMRC and “was is in discussions with the department”.

Incidentally, a fourth dispute over a £8 million bill was recently been resolved, after HMRC slapped a notice on the company.

Lycamobile, which was founded by Allirajah Subaskaran in 2006, has had a sound association with the Tories. The telecom giant had donated £2.1 million to the Conservative Party between 2011 and 2016, and supported Boris Johnson’s bid to be re-elected as mayor of London, says the report.

The campaign used the company’s Canary Wharf offices at least five times for tele-canvassing purposes. Lycamobile also sponsored Johnson’s Diwali bash at Trafalgar Square after his re-election as mayor in 2012.

In the same year, The Guardian had revealed that Lycamobile had not paid corporation tax for three years. It had flouted norms of publishing annual accounts on time and risked being struck off the UK’s business register.

In 2016, the company’s internal auditors conceded that its “complex web” of domestic and offshore operations was “so opaque” that they could not account for assets worth £134 million, the report points out.

In 2018, the HMRC was accused of refusing to assist French sleuths probing suspected money laundering by Lycamobile. A news series exposed a confidential email sent by HMRC, which had noted that the company was, at that time, “the biggest corporate donor to the Conservative party led by Prime Minister Theresa May and donated 1.25bn euros to the Prince Charles Trust in 2015”.

Subsequently, HMRC said the email was “regrettable”, but insisted that the organisation was “never influenced by political considerations”.

“After the French request was rejected, HMRC continued to liaise with the French authorities to explain the statutory requirements for a UK search warrant, and offered to meet the French judge face to face to explain those requirements,” said an HMRC statement.

Notably, in 2016, French investigators had raided Lycamobile’s Paris headquarters and arrested 19 executives.

More For You

Russell brand

Sexual offences said to have taken place between 1999 and 2005

Getty

Russell Brand faces rape and sexual assault charges involving 4 women

Russell Brand has been formally charged with a series of sexual offences said to have taken place between 1999 and 2005. The comedian and actor faces allegations from four separate women, with the charges including rape, indecent assault, oral rape and further counts of sexual assault.

The Metropolitan Police confirmed on Friday that Brand has been informed of the charges. A statement from the force said he is to be charged with one count of rape in the Bournemouth area in 1999, one count of indecent assault in Westminster in 2001, one count of oral rape and an additional sexual assault in Westminster in 2004, and a further count of sexual assault in Westminster between 2004 and 2005.

Keep ReadingShow less
indian-parliament

In the Rajya Sabha, 128 members voted in favour, and 95 opposed it. In the Lok Sabha, 288 MPs supported the bill, while 232 voted against it.

Gatty images

Indian parliament passes the controversial Waqf (Amendment) Bill

INDIAN parliament has passed a controversial bill seeking to change the way Muslim charitable properties, known as waqf, are managed.

The bill was cleared after hours of heated debate, with the government saying it would bring transparency and the opposition alleging that it targets the Muslim community.

Keep ReadingShow less
Blood donor recruitment event for South Asian community

FILE PHOTO: A nurse prepares a man for a blood donation in London, England. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

Blood donor recruitment event for South Asian community

THE NHS is holding a blood donor recruitment event at Shepherd's Bush blood donor centre on Saturday (5) to attract South Asian donors to help treat health conditions affecting their community.

South Asian donors are needed to treat thalassemia, an inherited blood disorder which affects people of Mediterranean, south Asian, southeast Asian and Middle Eastern origin. People with thalassemia produce too little or no haemoglobin, causing anaemia, fatigue, breathing issues and other symptoms.

Keep ReadingShow less
Modi Yunus

The meeting took place on the sidelines of a regional summit in Thailand. (Photo: X/@ChiefAdviserGoB)

Modi meets Yunus for first talks since Hasina's exit

INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi held talks with Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus in Bangkok on Friday.

This was their first meeting since former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina was removed from office in 2024.

Keep ReadingShow less
US tourist arrested for entering North Sentinel Island

Authorities continue to investigate Polyakov’s actions

Youtube/ Neo-Orientalist

US tourist arrested for entering North Sentinel Island, home to Andaman tribe with no outside contact

Indian police have arrested a 24-year-old American tourist, Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov, for illegally entering North Sentinel Island, one of the most protected and isolated regions in the world. The remote island, part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal, is home to the Sentinelese tribe, who reject all contact with outsiders and are safeguarded by Indian law.

Polyakov reportedly attempted to make contact with the Sentinelese by offering a coconut and a can of Diet Coke. He used a motorised inflatable boat to reach North Sentinel Island, where he spent a few minutes onshore before returning to his vessel. Authorities confirmed that he collected sand samples and filmed his brief landing using a GoPro camera.

Keep ReadingShow less