BORIS Johnson has refused to comment on the Chancellor’s wife Akshata Murty’s non-domiciled tax status.
It was revealed on Thursday that Murty, estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of pounds, has non-dom status which means she is not legally obligated to pay tax in Britain on foreign income.
The fashion-designer daughter of a billionaire, Murty, married Rishi Sunak in 2009. She has insisted she pays taxes on all her UK income and claimed the status is because she is an Indian citizen. However, experts have disputed this claim.
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It comes as Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said that Sunak has “very serious questions” to answer over his family’s finances after Murty’s non-dom status was revealed.
The Prime Minister was quizzed on the issue by ITV news on Thursday, but refused to give an answer.
Johnson was asked if Murty’s tax arrangement is “any of our business” and if that means she is sheltering from tax in the UK.
The PM responded: “I think it's very important in politics if you possibly can to try to keep people's families out of it.
“What I will say is that Rishi and I are working very hard on a massive long term British energy security strategy. That's what we're focused on.”
'I think it is very important in politics if you possibly can to try and keep people's families out of it'@BorisJohnson refuses to comment on @RishiSunak's wife's tax arrangements after it emerged she has non-domicile status https://t.co/ipUvaAKKCr pic.twitter.com/t9BA7UboyF
— ITV News Politics (@ITVNewsPolitics) April 7, 2022
The journalist interrupted to ask: “Are you comfortable with the arrangement?”
The PM ignored the query and continued: “And what we're, what we're focused on, is making sure that we have the investment going in now that will undo some of the, I think, some of the strategic mistakes of previous decades.”
It comes as Starmer demanded answers and said Sunak could be guilty of “breathtaking hypocrisy” if his wife is reducing her own tax bill as the Chancellor increases national insurance for millions in the UK.
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Starmer told ITV: “A Chancellor who says to the British public that he will tax them, he’s introduced 15 tax rises, and he says all of this is necessary, there’s no option.
“If it now transpires that his wife has been using schemes to reduce her own tax then I’m afraid that is breathtaking hypocrisy.
“It shows yet again that we’ve got a Chancellor who is completely out of touch with the struggles that so many people in this country are going through with the cost of living crisis.
“He has very very serious questions to answer.”
And shadow climate change secretary Ed Miliband argued that it is “legitimate” to ask questions when Sunak said he is raising taxes to pay for public services while “his immediate family (is) sheltering a large part of their income from UK taxes”.
He told BBC Breakfast: “I think there is a legitimate public question about whether that is the right decision because he’s the guy asking us to pay more in taxes.”
A spokeswoman for Murty confirmed she holds non-dom status after the reports surfaced.
The spokeswoman said: “Akshata Murty is a citizen of India, the country of her birth and parents’ home.
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“India does not allow its citizens to hold the citizenship of another country simultaneously.
“So, according to British law, Ms Murty is treated as non-domiciled for UK tax purposes.
“She has always and will continue to pay UK taxes on all her UK income.”
Professor Richard Murphy, the Sheffield University academic who co-founded the Tax Justice Network, questioned her statement, insisting that being a non-dom is a “choice” she can relinquish.
“Domicile has nothing to do with a person’s nationality,” he said.
“In other words, the claims made in the statement issued by Ms Murty are wrong, and, as evidence, just because a person has Indian citizenship will never automatically grant them non-dom status in the UK.”
It is understood that Sunak declared his wife’s tax status when he became a minister in 2018 and the Treasury was also aware so that any potential conflicts could be managed.
Murty is listed on LinkedIn as being director of capital at private equity firm Catamaran Ventures, gym chain Digme Fitness and gentlemen’s outfitters New & Lingwood.
She is also reported to hold a 0.91% stake in Infosys, which was founded by her now billionaire father.
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