Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s wife is able to avoid paying UK taxes on her overseas earnings – and people are not happy about it.
Akshata Murty has non-domicile status due to her Indian citizenship, it was revealed by The Independent late on Wednesday.
Her spokesperson 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.”
Murty receives a multi-million pound annual dividend from her father’s IT services company, Infosys. It’s not yet known how much her tax status has allowed her to avoid paying in taxes, but it is entirely legal.
Still, the news has broken at a particularly difficult time for the British public; the energy crisis means household bills are soaring, while Sunak’s decision to increase National Insurance contributions also kicked in this month.
Together with a rise in other bills, such as council tax, and inflation climbing to a 30-year high, the UK has been plunged into a cost of living crisis.
While Sunak declared his wife’s tax status to the Cabinet Office when he joined in 2018, Murty has also faced questions about any potential links her family business has to Russia.
The chancellor responded by saying his wife should not be targeted by political attacks. He has yet not commented on the latest news about Murty’s non-dom status.
Twitter, as usual, did not hold back when it came to sharing thoughts on this particular row.