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

[FlowerArranger]

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?

@Roselilly36

Tax dodge, absolutely, but a legal one. Lots of negativity directed at Rishi & co now, personally, I am not a fan, but I wonder what camp all these stories are coming from…

I'm wondering too, especially when it's been on record for 4 years already, this isn't news, looks like someone trying to do some convenient timed muck raking more than anything else.

I don’t know of anyone who voluntarily pays more tax than they need to…'

Lots of MNs will avoid IHT or pay themselves dividends which is taxed lower than income. This is just on a bigger scale.

I do agree that other taxes should be brought in line with income as that's disproportionate however many don't want that.

I’m not surprised, but then there’s very little this cabinet could do to shock me now bar sacrifice a virgin during PMQ’s.

What does piss me off is that they’re not even trying to pretend their decent, this is just how things are and we should suck it up. No way someone didn’t look at the (frankly terrible) optics of this little nugget and recognise it makes RS look like a wanker. It doesn’t matter because our opinion doesn’t matter.

The irony of the DM article is the owner of the DM is also a nom dom.

If she brings any of that income to the uk it will be taxed.
The non dom rules makes the uk
attractive to all the foreigners that work and invest in the uk. Therefore if the rules didn't exist we would probably have a lot less money in the uk. Think of a non dom city banker with a large bonus say £2mil. £900k of that would be paid in PAYE. Without the non dom rules they might decide they don't want to come to the UK in the first place. Therefore the UK missed out on the £900k.
And on another point have you been tried to do a tax return where you have to take tax credits for taxes paid in other countries where the tax years don't align and the rates and rules are all different? It makes life so much more simple!!

Of all the things I hate the Tories/current govt/current chancellor for, this is pretty low down the list. How many ‘comfortable’ MN posters regularly post for advice on how to arrange finances to minimise paying for care home fees, inheritance tax, etc.

They’re - in the most part - a bunch of morally repugnant incompetent knobs. But using a perfectly legal tax route isn’t why I wouldn’t ever vote for them.

@hypaingea

I don’t know of anyone who voluntarily pays more tax than they need to…'

Lots of MNs will avoid IHT or pay themselves dividends which is taxed lower than income. This is just on a bigger scale.

Many MNers have not made decisions to push hundreds of thousands of children into poverty and force the most vulnerable people in society to starve or freeze to death this winter. Sunak has made this choice. He's happy to inflict suffering and pain on those beneath him and meanwhile he will enjoy the financial rewards only available to the already super-wealthy. That's why it matters when it's him. It's not just a case of scaling up. He's pushing people down and pulling up the drawbridge. He's the Chancellor of this country and his choice is to further enrich the wealthy and impoverish everyone else.

But he would rather entrench the enormous gulf between rich and poor.

And Boris is against this?

Sunak's policies are designed to ensure that people like him - a tiny minority - can get richer and richer while everyone else stays stuck where they are or is dragged back.

It's not just his policies! The 08 crisis caused a huge gulf.

@fallfallfall

Why? It’s not illegal. It would be considered good tax planning. She would be paying taxes on that money in the country it’s registered in. Wealthy people all over the world do this and countries court their money as well.

Just because it is legal doesn't make it right. She lives in this country, she chooses not to pay her fair share of taxes. Shame on her.

@hypaingea

But he would rather entrench the enormous gulf between rich and poor.

And Boris is against this?

Johnson is just as morally repugnant and leads a government intent on doing exactly this. They promised to level up; it was a lie.

@FlowerArranger

I am aware that it is not illegal.

There is a dual taxation agreement between the UK and India which states that:

A dividend paid by a company which is a resident of India to a resident of the United Kingdom may be taxed in the United Kingdom. The dividend may also be taxed in India but the Indian tax so charged shall not exceed 15 per cent of the gross amount of the dividend.

So, by choosing to be non-domiciled, she is saving herself a maximum of 15% in tax. Given how outrageously rich she is, and her husband's position as Chancellor, it is at least morally dubious (and in my view unethical) for her to choose not to pay tax in the country where she lives.

She has lived here for 7 years and the option not to pay tax is limited to 15 years. For public relations reasons if nothing else, she'd be wise to end her non-domiciled status now.

I agree with you op. but again its rich Tories governing over us peasants. but still judging by many responses on the thread about boris Johnson statement about the trans issue lots of dummies will merrily vote them in again

Many MNers have not made decisions to push hundreds of thousands of children into poverty and force the most vulnerable people in society to starve or freeze to death this winter. Sunak has made this choice.

How did he get this power?

Hands up if you voluntarily pay more tax than you have to

There are plenty of champagne socialists too. Starmer is 'worth' £7.7 million. Why, we could ask, doesn't he give most of it away?

Akshata Murthy's wealth was made in India by her family.

@hypaingea

Sunak's policies are designed to ensure that people like him - a tiny minority - can get richer and richer while everyone else stays stuck where they are or is dragged back.

It's not just his policies! The 08 crisis caused a huge gulf.

The Tory response to the 08 crisis worsened the existing huge gulf as they chose a ruinous policy of austerity. It was ideological and it caused immeasurable, unthinkable harm. It was never necessary. They chose to do it. Sunak is choosing this again. He will worsen the damage already inflicted by his predecessors. Yet again, a multimillionaire decides to inflict poverty and death while enriching themselves.

@NoOtherShadeOfBlue but that's the Tory way & people vote for it because they think it will make them rocher

richer!

@hypaingea

I don’t know of anyone who voluntarily pays more tax than they need to…'

Lots of MNs will avoid IHT or pay themselves dividends which is taxed lower than income. This is just on a bigger scale.

I have. Was given lots of pushy advice when I inherited a house and rented it to someone I knew who was going to be homeless. People said I was mad, should have mortgaged it to get tax relief and all sorts of other things I didn't even register. Friend back on their feet and house sold.

I have been poor, I'm still poor by Rishi standards but I'm happy to pay my way, did my annual tax return yesterday, first day you could do it, and paid what I owed. I never hang on to pay it the following january as lots do.

Maybe I'm stupid but I sleep at night.

@hypaingea

Many MNers have not made decisions to push hundreds of thousands of children into poverty and force the most vulnerable people in society to starve or freeze to death this winter. Sunak has made this choice.

How did he get this power?

He got this power when Johnson's government got voted in on a promise of levelling up.

How many more children are getting forced into poverty thanks to his decisions on the energy crisis? It doesn't look very level to me.

It is called tax planning. I have never been a fan of rishi, but what is happening now.. The whole smear campaign is unreasonable. Yes, he is loaded and his wife is super reach.. So what? If anything, I would prefer my chancellor to know how to run a business of a significant size.
I am not a fan of many decisions he took during covid and now, but it really has nothing to do with his wealth

I am not a British citizen and will never be one as my home country doesn't allow dual citizenship. But my tax domicile is still the UK. .
It is common for very wealthy people to do this but as the wife of someone who is supposed to be in public service, I guess this says that she has no connection with the people of the UK.

This begs the question - if this family doesn't have any connection with the people of the UK and simply treat it as one of their many homes/place to earn wealth, they have no place in public service.

Non story, she’s not doing anything wrong and I doubt many people would do differently in her position!

@hypaingea

The irony of the DM article is the owner of the DM is also a nom dom.

Is his partner imposing higher taxes on the poor?

She does pay tax, just not UK tax.
Headline should be "Indian citizen pays Indian taxes on income in India" but that's not so likely to make people froth at the mouth.
India really restricts what non citizens are allowed to do (purchase land, own companies etc) so it makes complete sense she wouldn't have necessarily given up her citizenship of birth from a practical as well as emotional reason.
India also charges you to remove significant amounts of money from the country (unlike the UK) so another reason she probably won't bring a lot of the money over.
Honestly her citizenship and tax affairs are her business and hers alone. She is not a public servant.

I really think the fact that people are begrudging India, with its worse poverty and COVID crisis, her tax £££ because they want in in the UK is grabby to the extreme.