Calls grow louder for Rishi Sunak to ‘come clean’ on family tax affairs and wife’s non-dom status
Responding to the news that Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s wife claims non-domicile tax status, the Liberal Democrats are calling for the Chancellor to ‘come clean’ on his family’s tax affairs
“This news will be a slap in the face for families struggling to cope with Rishi Sunak’s crippling tax hike,” Treasury spokesperson Christine Jardine told Morning Wire this afternoon.
“Sunak now needs to “come clean” about which country his family pays tax in abroad and if it is a tax haven.”
She added: “The Chancellor’s household should be no different to the millions of UK households who now face the highest tax burden in decades. It’s just nonsensical that someone can be domiciled in a different country to the person they live with.”
“He must come clean on his family’s tax affairs while he’s at it. It would be a scandal if his household were to have benefitted from overseas tax havens.”
Earlier, Rishi Sunak’s wife has hit back at claims that she took up “non-dom” status to avoid paying UK taxes.
Akshata Murthy, the daughter of Indian tech billionaire N.R. Narayana Murthy, has claimed she has been forced to take up “non-domicile” status, due to not being able to hold dual citizenship under Indian law.
The billionaire heiress claimed she “has always and will continue to pay UK taxes on all her UK income.” The Indian fashion designer currently pays foreign taxes on all income earned outside of the UK.
Murthy’s rebuttal comes amid claims the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s wife may have avoided paying millions in taxes due to rules allowing those with non-dom status to forgo paying taxes on income earned outside of Britain.
The allegations come after the Chancellor last month increased taxes to their highest levels since the 1950s, after setting out plans to increase the burden imposed on UK taxpayers by 2 per cent by 2024-25.
In certain situations, non-domicile status also allows those who hold it to avoid paying UK inheritance taxes, which otherwise take 40 per cent of any assets worth more than £325,000.
Murthy is set to inherit billions from her billionaire businessman father, N.R. Narayana Murthy, who founded Bangalore headquartered IT company Infosys in 1981. Murthy also owns a 0.91 per cent stake in Infosys, which is valued at around $900m.
Along with her husband, the Indian businesswoman also manages private equity fund Catamaran Ventures UK, which controls more than $1bn worth of assets.