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?

The system could be fairer. The loopholes that allow really rich people and massive companies to pay far less than their fair share could be closed but why would any government ever do that when it benefits them far much more not to.

I don't think the appetite to change is amongst the public though. Someone who bought years ago & gained thousands in equity resents inheritance tax because with the cost of housing they want to help their dc, but the same loophole allows multi millionaires the same privilege. And actually if house prices were not so inflated you wouldn't need to worry about offsetting IHT because your dc wouldn't need help to buy.

First up she married the man. She didn’t become his chattel or an extension of his career aspirations. She can do what she wants. She is not bound by him and she should not be hounded or singled out because she married him. The press should leave her alone.

If there is hypocrisy then it needs to be laid at his door. He is a Thatcherite. He does not believe in high taxation and high public spending. Boris wanted more money for social care. The right of his party (Sunak represents this group) said no to more borrowing so Boris had to propose the Ni increase.

I do think Sunak is out of touch. And his budgets/ fiscal statements have been a series of misfires politically. He was forced into reverses and adjustments because he ignores global events and so he carry on with his ideology. He basically blocks public spending. Meanwhile we have a PM who is wastefully reckless with spending and skirts the lines with corruption.

@loves2plan I was talking generally not about Rishi, I already said upthread they aren't doing anything wrong.

Is she ordinarily resident in this country? If so she shouldn't be claiming non-dom status.

Just to add, most people who claim non-dom status here also use tax avoidance schemes elsewhere. The rich in India pay very little tax. I suspect more will come out on how much tax the family pay in India.

@NoOtherShadeOfBlue well let's see what the electorate do then.

@cyclamenqueen

Well she’s only doing what she’s entitled to , she’s Indian nor British and has retained her Indian domicile so presumably she pays tax in India .

I don’t think it’s very appropriate but I actually think it’s worse that he’s jetted off for Easter to his flat in Santa Monica and that presumably his children are at expensive London schools whilst he as Chancellor makes decisions about funding state schools.

In general I don’t think being rich should preclude you from government office however you have yo understand that that comes with responsibility. rishi isn’t just rich he’s in another world rich and he seems unable to see or understand how this is relevant to being in high office.

Exactly the points I've just been making chatting to colleagues in the office.

We need to look at the definition of domicile. On the face of it, if you live most of the time in the UK, your husband's job is in the UK and his salary is paid by the UK government, you live somewhere funded by the UK taxpayer and your children are at school in the UK, you should be domiciled here.

Outraged yes but not surprised no. If any government of any colour put more attention onto changing the tax rules so tax avoidance would not happen and all the dodgy rules that means those who have a lot keep it rather than pay their fair share we would all be better off.

@hypaingea

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

all about tax affairs of Jonathan Harmsworth, 4th Viscount Rothermere

The thing is, if your boss said to you he could pay your wages through a bank somewhere with a lower tax rate (and it was legal) and instead of paying 20% you could pay 5%, how many of us would turn that down?

She is Indian and can't have dual nationality it is true. But being classed a non-dom for tax reasons is not forced upon a person. It is a choice. You apply for it.

No doubt she uses all the loopholes available to pay the minimum of of tax in India too. It is just pure greed and rather sickening.

@EthelTheAardvark

We need to look at the definition of domicile. On the face of it, if you live most of the time in the UK, your husband's job is in the UK and his salary is paid by the UK government, you live somewhere funded by the UK taxpayer and your children are at school in the UK, you should be domiciled here.

Exactly that.

@EthelTheAardvark

We need to look at the definition of domicile. On the face of it, if you live most of the time in the UK, your husband's job is in the UK and his salary is paid by the UK government, you live somewhere funded by the UK taxpayer and your children are at school in the UK, you should be domiciled here.

I believe it also requires you to give up your original citizenship. Akshata has only just satisfied the 6 yr requirement for British citizenship. India does not recognise dual nationality.

@DoraSpenlow

The thing is, if your boss said to you he could pay your wages through a bank somewhere with a lower tax rate (and it was legal) and instead of paying 20% you could pay 5%, how many of us would turn that down?

Didn't some people do that a few years back and then the taxman caught up with them, clarified the rules and they had to repay the money? I can't remember the details, must have a google.

@LemonTT

First up she married the man. She didn’t become his chattel or an extension of his career aspirations. She can do what she wants. She is not bound by him and she should not be hounded or singled out because she married him. The press should leave her alone.

If there is hypocrisy then it needs to be laid at his door. He is a Thatcherite. He does not believe in high taxation and high public spending. Boris wanted more money for social care. The right of his party (Sunak represents this group) said no to more borrowing so Boris had to propose the Ni increase.

I do think Sunak is out of touch. And his budgets/ fiscal statements have been a series of misfires politically. He was forced into reverses and adjustments because he ignores global events and so he carry on with his ideology. He basically blocks public spending. Meanwhile we have a PM who is wastefully reckless with spending and skirts the lines with corruption.

The BBC are saying she can do this as her father was born in India, is she his chattel instead of her husband's?

"Domicile has nothing to do with a person’s nationality. Nor does it have anything to do with not being able to have a British passport because a person holds citizenship from another country. And non-domiciled status is certainly never given for that reason."

twitter.com/richardjmurphy/status/1511964400978214912?s=21&t=5HnKtOAUH9gH9H0KWW2-8g

@DoraSpenlow

The thing is, if your boss said to you he could pay your wages through a bank somewhere with a lower tax rate (and it was legal) and instead of paying 20% you could pay 5%, how many of us would turn that down?

But we're talking about a person with millions and millions of pounds, not an average working person. It is not as if she needs to wangle paying the minimum of tax in order to pay the gas bill and feed the kids.

It may not be illegal, but it is morally really grubby behaviour.

[quote JanisMoplin]@ancientgran she does pay taxes in this country the same as anyone else. Why do you think she does not?[/quote]
She isn't paying the same at all. If I had a million pound income in India I would be paying UK tax on it, she isn't.

But we're talking about a person with millions and millions of pounds, not an average working person. It is not as if she needs to wangle paying the minimum of tax in order to pay the gas bill and feed the kids.

Tax avoidance shouldn't be ok if you earn 10k but bad if you earn 1m.

[quote Notonthestairs]"Domicile has nothing to do with a person’s nationality. Nor does it have anything to do with not being able to have a British passport because a person holds citizenship from another country. And non-domiciled status is certainly never given for that reason."

twitter.com/richardjmurphy/status/1511964400978214912?s=21&t=5HnKtOAUH9gH9H0KWW2-8g[/quote]
This is an instructive thread. Much more so than the Guardian article since he is a CA. So basically no set rules on domicile. Despite what HMRC says.

Let's all just doff our caps to the Tories and the super rich and be grateful that Sunak is lending us a couple of quid in the hope that not too many of us will freeze to death next winter.

"She isn't paying the same at all. If I had a million pound income in India I would be paying UK tax on it, she isn't."

But that's because, I assume, you are both uk resident and domiciled. You would also be free to spend the money in the uk.

She has a choice written in law. She will pay £30,000 for the privilege but won't be able to bring the money nor assets bought with the money into the uk without tax charge

The issue is that such 'tax planning' means the very wealthy are simply not paying anything like as much tax as the majority where almost all earnings are subject to PAYE.

The reason its an issue is because as chancellor he is responsible for creating a fair tax system - is he going to consider changing taxes on non-doms when it'll hit his wife? Means the oligarchs get a free ride without having to be married to him.

She's a non domiciled individual. It's that simple. Just because she's rich doesn't mean she has to follow a different set of tax laws.

Take it people still listen to all those pop artists who went non dom for tax reasons? Or is it only a foreign national married to a Tory who is worthy of this level of abuse?

As far as I am aware, she pays her tax in India, the country of which she is a citizen. Should we rob India of her tax contribution to them?

Anyway, as for Labour, if you don't remove a loophole when in Government, don't moan about it in Opposition.