The Conservative party has formally asked HMRC to investigate whether Nigel Farage should have paid tax on a £5m gift he received from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne, amid questions over whether the payment was really compensation tied to his return to frontline politics. Tory chair Kevin Hollinrake wrote to the tax authority arguing that if the money was connected to Farage resuming the Reform UK leadership and standing for parliament, it might properly be classed as taxable income rather than a personal gift, potentially falling under HMRC's "disguised remuneration" rules.

The move follows Guardian reporting that Farage had told senior Reform figures he would need £1m a year to offset lost earnings if he stood for office, a claim Reform dismissed as "fake and wholly incorrect" and which Harborne's lawyers said contradicted his stated intention that the gift come with no strings attached. Farage has variously described the money as unconditional, a reward for his Brexit campaigning, and a contribution to his security costs, insisting over the weekend it was "totally undeclarable in every single way" on the basis of legal advice he received. He already faces a separate parliamentary standards inquiry over the Harborne gift and undeclared funding from fraudster George Cottrell, with rules requiring political gifts to be declared for the 12 months before an MP takes office.