David Thake has informed the Nationalist Party that he will be resigning from parliament in the wake of revelations over outstanding VAT dues.

He confirmed the news when contacted by Times of Malta. 

PN leader Bernard Grech was informed about the planned resignation on Wednesday evening.

The resignation comes just days after Thake quit the PN’s shadow cabinet and suspended himself from the parliamentary group pending an ethics probe by Standards Commissioner George Hyzler.

Thake found himself in the spotlight over unpaid VAT by two companies he owns. 

Sources said Thake told his PN colleagues that he did not want to allow the controversy to detract from the party’s work.

Times of Malta revealed in December how one of Thake's companies owed €270,000 in unpaid VAT. 

MaltaToday further exposed on Sunday how another of Thake's companies had failed to file audited accounts for 10 years in a row, and also owed €550,000 in VAT. 

Thake rubbished claims by Prime Minister Robert Abela that this was a case of tax evasion. 

The PN MP said the €550,000 in VAT payments had been deferred as part of a government scheme launched during the COVID-19 pandemic to increase cash flow for struggling companies. 

PN thanks Thake for assuming political responsibility

The Nationalist Party thanked Thake for assuming political responsibility by  stepping down and dropping his candidacy for the general election.

Party leader Bernard Grech thanked him for his service and his efforts to raise standards in political life.

He also announced he would nominate Graziella Galea to be co-opted to fill Thake's former seat in parliament.

Galea, the daughter of former minister Censu Galea, is a former mayor and now minority leader at St Paul's Bay council. She failed to be elected by a whisker in the casual election from which Thake was elected.