In 2011 Hodge was among the beneficiaries of the winding-up of the Link Steel Foundation, a family trust that held shares in the private steel-trading business set up by her father called Stemcor. Hodge received £1.5m in shares held by the foundation.

According to reports, three quarters of the shares in the trust had previously been held in Panama. They were transferred onshore using the Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility (LDF) before being handed over.

As the former chair of PAC, Hodge has been highly critical of the LDF, with one committee report querying whether this option ‘struck the right balance between prosecuting tax evaders and allowing them to settle their affairs’.

Hodge also criticised HMRC’s decision to allow UK taxpayers with offshore accounts at HSBC’s private Swiss bank use the LDF to settle claims over undeclared tax, rather than taking them through the courts.

In a statement Hodge maintained that she had paid taxes in full and had always fully declared her shareholdings. Hodge said she had no role in setting the Link Steel Foundation up or running it, and was not a beneficiary of the foundation until 2011, when the shares were brought onshore via the  LDF, a move which she described as ‘ending the structure my relatives created.’

‘Stemcor is a family company and I have always fully declared my shareholdings. I have never held an executive or non-executive role and therefore have not had any role in the company.  As a shareholder I have on a number of occasions sought and received assurances from the executive that the company always paid the appropriate tax,’ Hodge said.

Hodge emphasised that she held ‘no influence or control’ over the company, and insisted that she paid tax every time she received benefits from the company. She also claimed that she did not benefit from the foundation until the shares were brought onshore.