Sunak urged to give answers on wife’s tax status
Starmer accuses Chancellor of ‘hypocrisy’
CHANCELLOR RISHI Sunak was yesterday called on to answer “very serious questions” about his wife’s tax arrangements, after it was revealed that she holds non-domiciled status.
Akshata Murty, estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of pounds, confirmed the arrangement, which means she is not legally obliged to pay tax in Britain on foreign income.
However, experts have questioned this stance, and have said that a person can choose whether or not they are non-domiciled in relation to their taxes.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer demanded answers yesterday afternoon, and suggested that Richmond MP Mr Sunak may be guilty of “breathtaking hypocrisy” if his wife was reducing her tax bill, while he increases costs for millions of Britons.
Ms Murty confirmed her “nondom” status after the Independent website first reported the arrangement on the day the rise in National Insurance took effect on Wednesday.
It means her permanent home is considered to be outside the UK despite the Sunaks living in Downing Street.
Speaking on a visit to Newcastle-under-Lyme yesterday, Sir Keir said: “The Chancellor has imposed tax rise after tax rise on working people and he’s said time and again there’s no alternative, we’ve got no option.
“If it now transpires that his wife has used schemes to reduce her own tax then that’s breathtaking hypocrisy and is more evidence of just how out of touch this Chancellor is, and I think he’s got very, very serious questions to answer in relation to these schemes.”
Mr Sunak has been supported by his Cabinet colleagues, however, as the Prime Minister suggested that families should be kept out of political arguments.
“I think it is very important in politics, if you possibly can, to try and keep people’s families out of it,” Mr Johnson told broadcasters yesterday during a visit to the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant.
A spokeswoman for Ms Murty confirmed she holds non-dom status after the reports surfaced on Wednesday evening.
“Akshata Murty is a citizen of India, the country of her birth and parents’ home,” the spokeswoman said. “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 nondom 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.”
The claims made in the statement issued by Ms Murty are wrong. Professor Richard Murphy, of Sheffield University.