TAX U-TURN
Rishi Sunak’s wife WILL pay UK tax on overseas millions in extraordinary U-turn
RISHI Sunak’s wife has announced she will pay UK taxes on the millions of pounds she earns overseas.
Her extraordinary U-turn was announced after a day of mounting pressure on the Chancellor, 41, and wife Akshata Murty, who holds controversial non-domicile status.
3
3
The revelation that she pays tax only on money made in the UK — and not on millions in share dividends from her Indian investments — triggered a political firestorm that threatened to derail her husband’s political career.
Mr Sunak tried to tough it out, accusing his wife’s critics of a smear campaign and insisting she had done nothing wrong.
But, shortly after 7pm yesterday, Ms Murty, 42, issued a statement which said: “I understand and appreciate the British sense of fairness and I 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.
Read more on Rishi Sunak
“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.”
In an interview published in The Sun yesterday, Mr Sunak defended his wife, who is an Indian citizen.
Explaining why she paid tax in India on the vast fortune she earns there, he said: “She loves her country.”
Most read in The Sun
But in a televised press conference, the PM had to admit even he had not known in advance about Ms Murty’s non-dom status.
In a separate row, it also emerged the Sunaks had US green card residency permits until late last year.
It was during the time he was Chancellor — and therefore responsible for UK tax policy.
Read More on The Sun
This led to a lengthy statement from Ms Murty, which will be seen as a desperate bid to draw a line under the row.
Opposition MPs leapt on the new development, urging the Cabinet Secretary Simon Case to open an investigation into whether the Chancellor had broken the Ministerial Code by failing to declare his residency in US.
3
Offshore trust storm
By Harry Cole
THE Chancellor has been hit by fresh allegations that he benefited from an offshore trust related to his wife’s investments.
Financial trusts in the British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands set up to manage Akshata Murty’s family interests named Rishi Sunak as a beneficiary in 2020, according to the Independent newspaper.
His spokesman said last night: “No one in Akshata’s family is aware of this alleged trust.”
But Labour’s Treasury minister Pat McFadden hit out at the claims and insisted: “This is extremely serious.
“We need urgent answers from the Chancellor as to why he has been linked to a tax haven.”
Mr McFadden added: “We need full transparency about this and the other stories about the Chancellor emerging over the past 24 hours.”
Topics