Rishi Sunak’s wife is NOT elected OR in a public role but she is a woman

[BigGreenSpacehopper]

Have you noticed that Zac Goldsmith (elected), Mark Carney (role of significance to all of us as Govenor of the Bank of England), 4th Viscount Rothmere (controlling shareholder and Chair of the Daily Mail) all have non Dom status but no mention is really made. However, a woman, who has no public role, has never said anything public, is being criticised for her non Dom status?

And yes she’s getting massive dividends but I imagine as it’s family money there is a massive pre-nup in place so it’s not like Rishi will be able to run off with it!

@Thesefeetaremadeforwalking

So one of the pre-requisites to be Chancellor is to be 'poor'?

It's a job very few want and has been described as "The Chancellor of the Exchequer is a man whose duties make him more or less of a taxing machine. He is entrusted with a certain amount of misery which it is his duty to distribute as fairly as he can."

Mrs Sunak's permanent home is considered outside of the UK and, although she is still liable for UK tax on income made in this country, she does not have to pay UK tax on foreign income unless it is brought into the UK.

Indian currency (Rupee) is an Internal Currency which is worth little on world markets because it is unstable. There are also very strict rules about taking Rupees in or out of India, maximum amount is £25,000 rupees. = about £250.

This is a non-story. I know quite a few Indians who could be classed as millionaires in India but have a modest lifestyle here because of the reasons above.

The Sunaks own 3 homes in the UK and a holiday home in the US. Her permanent home "is considered" by whom exactly to be outside the UK?

And are you seriously, seriously suggesting that because the rupee is unstable, a fortune estimated at £690 million - pounds, not rupees - is "modest"?!

Plus her views will have no influence on what’s in his red box and what he therefore decides to do in response. The chairman of the Daily Mail will have an influence on the tone of the paper, which has 1.7billion minutes spent on it in one month.

I’m sure none of us pay more tax than we legally need to.

I'm not sure the public response could be characterised simply as getting angry at Murty. Sunak seems to be coming in for a lot more of it, rightly so as he's the one who holds elected office. This isn't to say we don't need to look at systemic reform, but it's no failure of critical thinking whatsoever to think that a person whose spouse is a non-dom billionaire is a poor choice for Chancellor in the present circumstances.

Here in Denmark I can’t declare that all our income is UK derived (it is). If I live here for more than 6 months of the year I have to pay tax here wherever the income was derived. No wonder the UK has big issues when all those with huge worldwide incomes including UK but actually spend most of their time in the UK and in reality live in UK decide to nominate that they would rather be non Dom and nominate a country that is relatively tax free.

@namechange46783, get a grip. It’s not about anger at Murty and you know it. No amount of spin, tries at the racist angle, at the sexist angle, at the Johnson/Truss angle or whatabouteries will cover this stinking unethical situation.

The chancellor is totally, totally unfit for office now.

Does she actually live here though for large stretches— ?? That I couldn’t say

The really shocking thing is that a man of apparent intelligence and political nouse didn't see this coming and arrive better prepared

The fact is he doesn't expect it to harm him long term. He will ride the storm in opulent comfort

@Silverclocks

The really shocking thing is that a man of apparent intelligence and political nouse didn't see this coming and arrive better prepared

The fact is he doesn't expect it to harm him long term. He will ride the storm in opulent comfort

I think it'll harm his ability to become PM, at least for the present. There may be later opportunities of course, but he's not a great political talent and this may well have been his window. There's the US green card issue possibly about to blow up too, which won't help.

@LordEmsworth

The Sunaks own 3 homes in the UK and a holiday home in the US. Her permanent home "is considered" by whom exactly to be outside the UK?

Please read my post about tax laws in UK

And are you seriously, seriously suggesting that because the rupee is unstable, a fortune estimated at £690 million - pounds, not rupees - is "modest"?!

Please read my reply.
It doesn't matter what the 'fortune' is calculated to be in basic terms.
If the money can't be taken out of India it's not worth anything !

@BigGreenSpacehopper

Have you noticed that Zac Goldsmith (elected), Mark Carney (role of significance to all of us as Govenor of the Bank of England), 4th Viscount Rothmere (controlling shareholder and Chair of the Daily Mail) all have non Dom status but no mention is really made. However, a woman, who has no public role, has never said anything public, is being criticised for her non Dom status?

And yes she’s getting massive dividends but I imagine as it’s family money there is a massive pre-nup in place so it’s not like Rishi will be able to run off with it!

None of those three are elected.

Goldsmith gave up his non dom status years ago (when he was first elected to a public role I believe)

If you have an issue with Rothermere's non dom status take it up with the government of the last 12 years who dictate the rules.

Murty may or may not pay tax on foreign earnings somewhere but considering she is married to one of the top three in government, her children are educated here etc I'd love to know how she justified the claim to HMRC to be non dom which requires you to be planning to return and not long term committed to the UK.

Its also relevant because she is benefiting from rules controlled by her elected husband and apparently even his own close allies did not know, nor did HMRC civil servants working on non dom policy.

Any tax avoidance is inherently bad. But its worse when your partner is literally the person in charge of the countries finances. I don't know the moneys you saved personally from your own schemes but I imagine they pale in significance compared to the 10's of millions she will have saved. Plus the jury is out on what she pays in India. I'd be willing to bet a pretty penny they have offshore accounts in a tax haven.

The real problem is that most legal ways of avoiding tax are only available to the rich. Whereas the people at the bottom of society are left as you have stated. To evade tax by paying cash in hand where possible.

I personally think the person in charge of the countries finances should be grounded enough to understand how much a loaf of bread and a pint of milk really cost. I'd love to see the people who set our living standards also be a part of it. I think the vast majority of politicians are incredibly out of touch with the general population. This problem isn't getting fixed by voting a different lot into power.

@toomuchlaundry

I’m sure none of us pay more tax than we legally need to.

I don’t pay accounts exorbitant sums to help me pay less.

I think the bigger issue is how/why Sunak can suddenly appear in political life, be given a safe seat which was 99% certain to elect any Tory, and then be given such an important Ministerial position, coming from, literally nowhere.

Someone is pulling strings somewhere!

5 years from literally nothing to becoming one of the most important ministers is pretty good going!

Her kids live here, are educated here, and she lives with her husband at Number 11 Downing Street, at the pleasure of taxpayers.

So you genuinely and seriously believe she lives in India?

'I don't think having a chancellor who is so rich is a good idea....'

It is his economic and financial knowledge and skills that are important not his bank balance.

I think its quite good, surely shows he can manage money. He clearly isn't doing it for the salary is he.

If you do have to show you're not "settled" here to claim non dom status, surely she has big questions to in her own right, not only as the Chancellor's wife?

SJW openers are really tiresome. Of course it is not about the fact that she is female. What she has been trying to do since Rishi rose to prominence is keep a low profile and keep away from the PR game altogether. It is not as though this would have caught her unawares.

It has only happened in 2022 because Tory HQ have put it out there to sink Sunak. You can be a rich Tory, a very rich Tory, even, but you probably cannot have such humungous wealth and be married to the architect of breadlines and soup kitchens in 2022. It is right for him to leave upon the basis of her shady revenue streams but a brutal way to eject him.
Domicile is factually established and the indicators of her UK domicile are pretty damned clear, measured up against the published criteria. It can gradually evolve over years (as life unfolds) but by the time you have kids in school here for several years and are happily settled with your spouse in a job that is far away from a zero hours contract then it is actually laughable that she got away with it for so long. I actually think her previous tax bill should be revised. It definitely wont hurt her finances.

Rishi is a victim of exceptional circumstances (gone from the PR op in 2021 showing him serving katsu at Wagamama advising everyone to pig out to 2022 - got starvation trending) but the element of cheeky fuckery cannot be dismissed.

@user1497207191

I think the bigger issue is how/why Sunak can suddenly appear in political life, be given a safe seat which was 99% certain to elect any Tory, and then be given such an important Ministerial position, coming from, literally nowhere.

Someone is pulling strings somewhere!

5 years from literally nothing to becoming one of the most important ministers is pretty good going!

Interesting!!! That’s a really astute observation. You’re may be onto something here.

@toomuchlaundry

I’m sure none of us pay more tax than we legally need to.

You'd be surprised. Saving tax monies through things like isa's or investment in business or infrastructure is an entirely separate argument. I don't necessarily think it is right but the money that would have been taxed is still being put back into the economy. The ways in which the average person saves on tax is proportionally miniscule compared to the richest in society.

The standard route is normally to declare as none dom and have all of your assets registered in a tax haven.

I wouldn't be surprised if the that is what has happened here. That's 10's of millions of pounds from her that could have gone towards paying for nurses and teachers. Instead I fear the money will sit in some offshore account. Until rishi retires on a fat pension and they hoard the wealth.

@user1497207191

I think the bigger issue is how/why Sunak can suddenly appear in political life, be given a safe seat which was 99% certain to elect any Tory, and then be given such an important Ministerial position, coming from, literally nowhere.

Someone is pulling strings somewhere!

5 years from literally nothing to becoming one of the most important ministers is pretty good going!

Well, I can see why he was an attractive proposition to the Tories. It's not a shock that someone as telegenic as Rishi with his educational and professional background plus contacts was able to get a safe seat. That's just them being able to notice a potential rising star when one presented itself.

The Chancellor thing is more interesting. He did get appointed pretty quickly, and with minimal experience, but that may very well be because Boris wanted someone who wouldn't be a threat. Which made Rishi's poorly concealed blatant desire to be PM funnier, actually. He was also around at a time when Johnson purged a lot of the party and needed committed Brexiters: wherever you are politically, this is not a particularly talented or experienced Cabinet. Johnson wanted yes men, hence Javid got the boot. Rishi certainly isn't the only one to have had a big promotion that his previous record hadn't really earned him.

They have a gorgeous house in Santa Monica and spend a lot of time there. Perhaps they have quietly been shifting their life in that direction. It's funny how so many wealthy people have issues with paying UK tax but are happy to live in California and usually pay a lot more there.

I think there is a few things at play.

Women undoubtedly receive more criticism.

There's an obvious smear campaign though hence why this is front page news.

Inequality is a huge issue & there is growing anger at the "haves". Look at the comments on the Royal stories, much more anger.

Although perfectly legal it's bad optics against the backdrop of tax hikes for a "fairer society".

This did make me laugh from Private Eye

@SmellyOldOwls

This did make me laugh from Private Eye