Close X
Tuesday, December 3, 2024
ADVT 
International

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
  • Non-dom status of UK Chancellor's heiress wife means she could have avoided 4.4m pounds in UK tax last year: Report

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.

MORE International ARTICLES

Biden in Michigan to talk Buy American

Biden in Michigan to talk Buy American
If elected, Biden said, he would impose stiff new tax penalties on companies that manufacture U.S.-bound products outside the country, create incentives for keeping jobs on U.S. soil and close what he called "Trump loopholes" that allow companies engaged in offshoring to avoid paying U.S. taxes.

Biden in Michigan to talk Buy American

AstraZeneca vaccine trial not going ahead due to adverse reaction in a subject

AstraZeneca vaccine trial not going ahead due to adverse reaction in a subject
A spokesperson for AstraZeneca, via a statement said that the company’s “standard review process triggered a pause to vaccination to allow review of safety data.”

AstraZeneca vaccine trial not going ahead due to adverse reaction in a subject

Alleged neo-Nazi back in U.S. court Jan. 12

Alleged neo-Nazi back in U.S. court Jan. 12
Prosecutors, defence lawyers and District Judge Theodore Chuang gathered today via conference call to set deadlines for the government's response to the motions and to set a hearing date.

Alleged neo-Nazi back in U.S. court Jan. 12

Still too soon to try altering human embryo DNA, panel says

Still too soon to try altering human embryo DNA, panel says
Thursday’s report comes nearly two years after a Chinese scientist shocked the world by revealing he’d helped make the first gene-edited babies using a tool called CRISPR, which enables DNA changes or “edits” that can pass to future generations.

Still too soon to try altering human embryo DNA, panel says

Members named to panel probing WHO's pandemic response

Members named to panel probing WHO's pandemic response
Johnson Sirleaf chose the panel members independently and that WHO did not attempt to influence their choices.

Members named to panel probing WHO's pandemic response

Champion of aluminum tariffs faces critics

Champion of aluminum tariffs faces critics
In an online forum today hosted by the Washington International Trade Association, DeFrancesco squared off against critics of the decision, including leading industry groups in both Canada and the U.S.

Champion of aluminum tariffs faces critics