RISHI Sunak’s multi-millionaire wife has said she will pay tax in the UK on her overseas earnings after fierce backlash at her claiming non-domiciled status despite living in London and Yorkshire.
The “non-dom” status Akshata Murty had been claiming meant she did not have to pay tax on the estimated £11.5 million in annual dividends from her stake in the Indian-based company Infosys.
Murty reportedly paid a £30,000 annual fee in order to keep her non-dom status and avoid paying UK tax on those earnings and any others from her overseas interests.
She said in a statement: “People have asked questions about my tax arrangements: to be clear, I have paid tax in this country on my UK income and international tax on my international income. This arrangement is entirely legal and how many non-domiciled people are taxed in the UK.
“But it has become clear that many do not feel it is compatible with my husband's role as Chancellor. I understand and appreciate the British sense of fairness and do not wish my tax status to be a distraction for my husband or to affect my family.
“For this reason, I will no longer be claiming the remittance basis for tax. This means I will now pay UK tax on an arising basis on all my worldwide income, including dividends and capital gains, wherever in the world that income arises. I do this because I want to, not because the rules require me to. These new arrangements will begin immediately and will also be applied to the tax year just finished (21/22).”
Responding to the statement, Labour MSP Daniel Johnson wrote: "'British sense of fair play' normally means doing something because you know it’s the right thing to do, rather than doing something when embarrassed following public revelation of your actions (or inaction)."
The news comes after Sunak admitted to holding a green card and filing tax returns in the US while Chancellor of the United Kingdom.
Sunak’s spokesperson said he had “immediately” returned the green card in October 2021 – one year and eight months after he became Chancellor.
Furthermore, the Independent reported that Sunak was listed as a beneficiary of trusts in the tax havens of the British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands while he was a minister.
Pat McFadden (above), Labour's shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, said: "This is extremely serious. We need urgent answers from the Chancellor as to why he has been linked to a tax haven.
"People are extremely worried about the high taxes hitting them in the midst of a cost of living crisis.
“We already knew the Chancellor had chosen to pile that financial pain on to households this year to fund a pre-election tax promise from the Tories.
“Now we need full transparency about this and the other stories about the Chancellor emerging over the past 24 hours.”
A spokesperson for Sunak told that paper they “did not recognise” the claims of use of tax havens, while a spokesperson for Murty declined to comment.
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