Non-dom status of UK Chancellor's heiress wife means she could have avoided 4.4m pounds in UK tax last year: Report
Darpan News Desk IANS, 07 Apr, 2022 10:55 AM
London, April 7 (IANS) UK's Chancellor of Exchequer Rishi Sunak is scrambling to quell a row over his billionaire heiress wife's 'non-dom' status amid claims she could have avoided millions of pounds in UK tax, Daily Mail reported.
Akshata Murthy, whose father is one of India's richest men, is facing scrutiny after it emerged she has kept the status despite living in 11 Downing Street with the Chancellor and their children.
It means she was not liable for tax on overseas earnings, including dividends from her father's company that reportedly came to 11.6 million pounds last year. That sum could have meant paying 4.4 million pounds to HMRC.
A spokeswoman for Murthy pointed out she is an Indian citizen and stressed she pays UK taxes on UK income. There is no suggestion any laws or rules have been broken.
However, reforms brought in by the Tory government in 2015 stated that non-dom status is intended to "support those from overseas who come to the UK but don't intend to stay here permanently".
Labour Party chief Keir Starmer said the arrangements appeared to represent "breathtaking hypocrisy" and showed Sunak is "out of touch" with ordinary people, Daily Mail reported.
Shadow Business Secretary Ed Miliband said there was no legal issue but pointed out the government was making Britons pay more tax, after the national insurance hike came in on Wednesday.
"He is the UK Chancellor asking people to pay more in taxes. Is it right that his immediate family is sheltering from UK taxes? I think Rishi Sunak and his family should reflect on that," he told Sky News.
Miliband also sparked questions by suggesting non-dom status should have been abolished by the last Labour government - although it is not clear whether that is the party's current position.
Shankquia Peterson, 32, died on Thursday afternoon, Miami-Dade police said in a news release. She was among the 23 people shot early Sunday during a rapper’s album release party at the El Mula Banquet Hall. Two of the victims remained in critical condition at a hospital, police said.
President Joe Biden plans to share COVID-19 vaccines with the world, including directing 75% of excess doses through the UN-backed COVAX global vaccine sharing program.
President Joe Biden and his wife were heading to their Delaware beach house Wednesday evening to help the first lady celebrate that personal milestone on Thursday.
Canada will provide $25 million to Palestinian civilians affected by the recent conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians in Gaza Strip and the West Bank, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday.
Biden sought to use the stop on Friday at Sportrock Climbing Centers — an 18,000-square-foot (1,670-square-meter) space of climbing and bouldering walls, a gym, and yoga studios — to celebrate progress made as the country looks to turn the corner on the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 593,000 Americans and 3.5 million people worldwide.
After the violence in Jerusalem escalated into a war between Israel and Hamas on May 10 with Gaza’s ruling militant Hamas group firing rockets on Israel, the UAE muted its direct criticism of Israel and instead issued a statement calling on “all parties” to cease fighting.
