Rishi Sunak goes into the weekend facing questions from the media, Labour and some Tories over the tax status of his wife Akshata Murthy. On Wednesday night, the Independent reported that Murthy has non-dom status, meaning she does not have to pay UK tax on income earned abroad. Her spokesperson has confirmed that she pays £30,000 a year to retain that status having suggested that it was assigned to her as she did not want to give up her Indian citizenship.
Yet two days on and the story is not going away – if anything, it’s getting worse for the Chancellor. While no one disputes that Murthy’s tax arrangements are legal, tax experts dispute the idea that her Indian citizenship forces her to hold non-dom status – instead it’s a choice by Murthy to not pay UK tax on her foreign earnings.
The line from Sunak remains that Murthy does not have much choice at all – he has given an interview to the Sun saying it wouldn’t be ‘fair or reasonable’ to ask her to give up her Indian citizenship:
‘What it comes down to is, my wife was born in India, raised in India.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in