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Original poster

Rishi's wife does not pay tax (millions!!) on dividends!

870 replies

FlowerArranger · 07/04/2022 06:16

From today's Guardian :

Rishi Sunak’s multi-millionaire wife claims non-domicile status, it has emerged, which allows her to save millions of pounds in tax on dividends collected from her family’s IT business empire.

Akshata Murthy, who receives about £11.5m in annual dividends from her stake in the Indian IT services company Infosys, declares non-dom status, a scheme that allows people to avoid tax on foreign earnings.

www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/apr/06/rishi-sunaks-wife-claims-non-domicile-status?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

Anyone as outraged by this as I am? I mean what the actual fuck?

OP posts:
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5
daimbarsatemydogsbone · 07/04/2022 11:36

@Electrox

Akshata Murthy is not a politician and stays away from the limelight. Why should she be singled out? It just reads like a witch hunt.
Sure, any millions in financial benefits she gets from her husband enacting particular policies is coincidental, nothing to see here, plebs.
daimbarsatemydogsbone · 07/04/2022 11:39

@Cornettoninja

why should she be any different?

Because she’s married to the chancellor of the exchequer who benefits from her wealth and also has a conflict of interest in policy making, policies that he can implement in the knowledge that his wife’s considerable income protects them from the impacts of. Take him out of the equation then people go back to talking about the loophole not the individual.

It's not just that he's protected from impacts. Some of the HMRC behaviour on his watch is exporting work to the very company that his wife makes millions a year from. It's a very clear conflict of interest to anyone except Tory automata.
wonkylegs · 07/04/2022 11:40

What I find difficult with this is that surely there is a bit of a conflict of interest here.
He has time and time again said there is nothing more he can do about taxing ultra wealthy individuals and closing loopholes yet his wife is choosing to utilise them.
He's balancing the nations books but there is a conflict between his personal situation and his policies. There is no money for essential services yet we cannot possibly chase the money sources that are available but utilise loopholes and creative accounting or even perfectly legal tax dodges which are only open to high net worth individuals and corporations.
He often says his wife is completely separate to him but under government rules on transparency her affairs should be declared and it's funny how many of the general publics finances are linked as a couple by HMRC when policy is concerned.
I've always had a problem with this and him even before this latest bit of news so I'm not at all shocked.

Zilla1 · 07/04/2022 11:47

Let's hope he never has to claim benefits and for them to be treated as a couple for the purposes of a claim. Otherwise the unfairness of discussing her circumstances might be unavoidable.

Zilla1 · 07/04/2022 11:49

Though perhaps benefits for the Chancellor are like television for Noel Coward?

OhPleaseJustLast · 07/04/2022 11:58

Why should we receive taxes on money earned in India by an Indian company, paid to an Indian citizen, to her Indian bank account?

Seems entirely right to be that India receives that tax income, not us. What would be unfair would be for us to receive it.
We receive the tax income on the money she earns in this country.

Brainwave89 · 07/04/2022 11:58

Few of us would volunteer to pay tax twice in frankness. Seems reasonable that it is paid only once. As was the case with Cherie Booth there are (cheap) media stories in attacking the professional wives of politicians when there work enters challenging areas. Cherie used to do a lot of difficult civil rights cases and The Mail was forever noting how she was defending a terrorist or someone unequally unpleasant. Failing to point our that our legal system depends on everyone being able to access good legal advice.

Zilla1 · 07/04/2022 12:02

Conflict of interest? I expect the Chancellor will do everything in the interests of his electorate and stakeholders. And don't forget everyone else will be able to plan for and rely on the tax cut in a couple of year's time.

JanisMoplin · 07/04/2022 12:07

Apparently Mark Carney was also a non-domicile. I am now completely confused as I never expected to find myself defending the Sunaks. I guess Rishi is toast. I can live with that outcome.

Grantanow · 07/04/2022 12:07

Of course it's outrageous but what can you expect from rich Tories? Non-dom status is a choice which she did not have to make. All this at a time when Sunak screws ordinary folk with more tax and donates to a public school.

Getoff · 07/04/2022 12:09

I thought the trickle down effect has proven to be false.

An economist I follow on Youtube says no respectable economist has ever claimed it to be true. According to him, the phrase is only ever used be left-wingers, who put it into the mouths of right-wingers, then attack them for allegedly believing it. (He is a right-wing economist!)

(Note that he said no Economist has ever claimed it to be true. I would not be surprised if people can come up with a few right-wing politicians who said. Ronald Reagan is the one it's usually attributed to, I have no idea how fairly.)

cyclamenqueen · 07/04/2022 12:16

@Grantanow

Of course it's outrageous but what can you expect from rich Tories? Non-dom status is a choice which she did not have to make. All this at a time when Sunak screws ordinary folk with more tax and donates to a public school.
She didn’t make the choice . She has just stuck with her domicile if origin. The choice would have been to choose to change to U.K. domicile. Frankly I can’t see why anyone would choose that at the moment .
FrangipaniBlue · 07/04/2022 12:20

Would all the outraged posters on this thread be happy to pay double tax on a proportion of their earnings?

Thought not.

Zilla1 · 07/04/2022 12:21

@JanisMoplin I could be wrong but I don't think he will be toast. I suppose it depends on what else the people who have launched this story have to add to it. I'm hearing some press that after the statement, the PM 'wanted to do more but No 11 stopped him'. Easy to say but if the winds have turned against the Chancellor, it's perhaps interesting that it's not the content of his statement but this story that is the basis for the attack.

OutingHobby · 07/04/2022 12:24

@OhPleaseJustLast

Why should we receive taxes on money earned in India by an Indian company, paid to an Indian citizen, to her Indian bank account?

Seems entirely right to be that India receives that tax income, not us. What would be unfair would be for us to receive it.
We receive the tax income on the money she earns in this country.

I know! It's odd anyone thinks the UK has any sort of claim on it.
FrangipaniBlue · 07/04/2022 12:24

He admits to having multiple breads in his household when some people are struggling to afford one loaf, and the number is increasing.

We have multiple breads in our house. Should we not, just because some people can't afford that?

What about cars and holidays? Are we supposed to forego those because there are some who can't afford them either?

Canima · 07/04/2022 12:26

I dont understand the outrage

  1. You cannot optionally chose to be non dom. Its automatically applied by HMRC
  2. She already pays 35%+ tax in India- so she should pay another 45% in UK? Who voluntary pays more tax on this thread
  3. Morally outraged? why ? she is an independent woman who is living as per the laws of the land.

I am more annoyed at the real estate this is taking on our media, vs. focusing on the real issues in UK. inflation, war - stop being petty

littledrummergirl · 07/04/2022 12:26

How many houses in the UK is she a co-owner of? I guess she would have paid tax on the money brought into the country to buy and run those as I don't think it's possible afford all that on an mps salary?

ProfessorLayton1 · 07/04/2022 12:35

It is bizarre how the tabloids go for women in public service, and in this case someone married to chancellor and is leading a quiet life.

RS jetting off to Santa Monica - look at our airport chaos, lot of us are going abroad on holiday! He needs his holiday as much as anyone else. Both went to Stanford, maybe they have friends/ own property there. Infosys operates in California and most likely they have property there.

Sending their children to private school - it is none of our business where their children go to school. They are not taking up places in overcrowded London schools.

It is the law you need to be angry against , make sure that it is changed in future. Looks like there was nothing illegal about what they have done.

tigger1001 · 07/04/2022 12:36

@Canima

I dont understand the outrage
  1. You cannot optionally chose to be non dom. Its automatically applied by HMRC
  2. She already pays 35%+ tax in India- so she should pay another 45% in UK? Who voluntary pays more tax on this thread
  3. Morally outraged? why ? she is an independent woman who is living as per the laws of the land.

I am more annoyed at the real estate this is taking on our media, vs. focusing on the real issues in UK. inflation, war - stop being petty

She can chose how she is taxed in the uk - she can elect to be taxed on arising basis - basically taxed on worldwide income in the year, or taxed on the remittance basis and taxed on the uk income and only worldwide income so far as it's been brought into the uk in the tax year. If she's been in the uk for 7 years she will be charged £30k for choosing remittance basis.

If she chose arising basis she would get tax credit for any tax suffered overseas. And as it's divs the max tax rate would be 38.1%

But I agree - no one actively chooses to pay more tax

Zilla1 · 07/04/2022 12:46

Is it possible the PP who mentioned children's schooling (haven't looked at the post to look at context) did so as this was one of the mooted ties to the UK that prospective tax exiles would have examined, as was property ownership and time spent here? I know tax exile/residency status is different to non-dom status.

Canima · 07/04/2022 12:47

Just to clear - you cannot chose to be non dom.

Also it doesnt matter if you select arising basis since tax paid in india would be adjusted before paying UK tax.

There is no money - also simply, whilst is a popular election speech, if you tax the ultra wealthy - they will move to another country that doesnt - so you lose that income too but more importantly the businesses he may be investing. Its a nice politician speech but terrible economics

ChardonnaysPetDragon · 07/04/2022 12:53

Just to clear - you cannot chose to be non dom.

Yes, you can. You have to satisfy the requirement, but you choose whether or not to apply.

Canima · 07/04/2022 12:59

@ChardonnaysPetDragon

Just to clear - you cannot chose to be non dom.

Yes, you can. You have to satisfy the requirement, but you choose whether or not to apply.

Love to see this law. HMRC decides whether you are dom or non dom
Turningpurple · 07/04/2022 13:01

Not that I take politicians at their word.

But I am sure Ed Milliband said you choose non dom status. This morning when he was interviewed on BBC.