The Labour Party has asked His Majesty's Revenue and Customs to investigate the tax affairs of Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice.

Party chair Anna Turley wrote to the tax authority after the Sunday Times reported Tice had "avoided nearly £600,000 in corporation tax" through his property company.

Turley said the article presented a "deeply troubling case which needs to be investigated with the utmost urgency". The BBC has contacted Tice for a response.

He told the Sunday Times that he had complied with all relevant rules and that the firm, Quidnet Reit Ltd, was "a UK company paying UK tax in accordance with UK laws".

The newspaper claimed Tice had avoided paying corporation tax on the company's "multimillion-pound profits for most of 2018 to 2021" through gaining "rare legal status" for it as a real estate investment trust (Reit).

The status gives firms a grace period in which they are exempt from corporation tax, according to the paper, and instead issue a portion of the company's earnings to shareholders who are taxed individually.

Tice reportedly channelled these dividends into structures including an offshore trust and "a string of dormant businesses", which "reduced his exposure to tax". The paper also claimed Quidnet "did not pass the technical tests for Reit status at the time and never did", and had gained the status instead through a "legal quirk". In a letter to HMRC on Sunday - which oversees firms with Reit status - Labour chair Turley said "several important questions remain unanswered". She posed a range of questions related both to Quidnet and HMRC's dealings with the firm, including whether Tice "and companies linked to him have paid all the tax they owe".

Responding to the Sunday Times' investigation, the Reform UK MP said: "Voters should be reassured to have a successful businessman who knows how to make money for shareholders running a business, trade and energy department, making money and growth for taxpayers. "

"If the country had had this before maybe we would not be in the current dire economic pickle. "

Tice also said it was "not unusual for property companies to seek Reit status", nor was there anything "complex or unusual about a UK company having a range of shareholders, some of whom are directors"

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