To think it sets a really bad example for the country when the PMs family have tax dodged millions

[Chloefairydust]

Just that really…

Im really surprised Sunak actually made it to be prime minister considering the recent stories that have been in the news regarding his family avoiding millions of ££ in tax . I actually thought Boris would have been more likely to have been PM. (Not that he’s any better🤔)

All the media quoting Winchester College school fees at £42000 and above are ignoring a couple of facts (a) Sunak went there over 20 years ago when the fees were much less and less proportionate to income and (b) these are boarding school fees and he remained a dayboy. How his parents managed three children at private school - I'm not sure, but there are day schools in Southampton with good reps which were around £7000 a year in the nineties.

His wife is no longer non dom but Sunak would be well advised to reduce this route and also overseas purchases of properties for investment some of which lie empty - a tricky one since it would mean a collapse in property prices which while initially great for the average person could also mean a collapse of high street banks who are once again over leveraged in the housing market.

So the leader of the Opposition is worth between £5-7 million. Where did his wealth come from? And the trade union leaders get vast salaries too. For goodness sake, some of these Libby left BBC personalities are worth millions!

@VickyEadieofThigh And it would be interesting to look at all politicians who have made money out of buy to let. There was at least one Labour MP and one time cabinet minister who had more BTL than anyone else. I'll google him to check.

Where do you get the info about KS’s wealth? I can only find some dubious sources quoting each other. At any rate, it would be about 200 times less than Sunak’s who has £730 million which is a pointless, staggering sum of greed.

Debt, always needs to exist to enable the creation of cash, via fiat currency

Give it a rest. You are clearly a Labour leftie.

So the leader of the Opposition is worth between £5-7 million. Where did his wealth come from?

He was a professional fluffer.
Its a sad story really, due to medical advancements, the market dried up. So he became a politician instead.

🙄

From nothing? From parents who had nothing?

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

And being an MP is not like any other job - there is an implicit understanding that you have a long term interest and commitment to the country

Is there? someone needs to tell Milliband and Clegg then, altho I suspect this 'implicit understanding' is one of those made-up unwritten rules. I'd also guess that most MPs commitment stretches to the next election and their chances of re-election and no further.

@RosaGallica what are you laughing at? One article I read said that Sunak’s grandparents emigrated here funded by selling the grandmother’s wedding jewellery

I'm actually appalled by this narrative, is it because of his heritage that is okay to attack his wife? This is a legitimate tax status and they are complying with HMRC rules. You are showing another motive by posting this.

So can all those who are judging the PM honestly say they do not use legal tax avoidance when filling in their tax forms? If you do you’re a hypocrite.

I'm with you on this. Sunak happens to be married to one of the richest women in the world.

But his personal history is a perfectly fine
one. Family comes to UK with relatively little. Second generation work very hard in healthcare and achieve fairly high salaries. They make whatever sacrifices necessary to send child to highly academic private school. Intelligent child works hard and goes into exceptionally well paid career in finance. Would we rather have a prime minister who'd flunked his exams and not got the jobs?

Likewise some people speak as if Sir Keir Starmer would be a better and more relatable leader if he'd been a mediocre barrister who'd plugged away in the CPS for twenty years and never got promoted at all, let alone the top job.

The Left talk as if being thick is a virtue. Like and Rayner saying she doesn’t want her speeches corrected because she’s working class. Goodness, as if ignorance is a virtue. I’m from working class stock but I don’t value ignorance.

Do people not get that he was Chancellor and that his wife was using non dom status to avoid millions in tax. The various celebrities who used a loophole to avoid tax were berated. I agreed with the OP. If you are in the Government you and your family need to be seen to be doing the right thing. They are incredibly rich and their extra tax would be a drop in the ocean for them.

I also find it bothersome that Sunak was one of those fined along with Johnson and didn't resign.

All politicians have in one way or the other found loopholes to pay less taxes. It is part of the game.

This is exactly it!!

What are people not getting?

• This is nothing to do with the colour of their skin or heritage
• This is nothing to do with Sunak's background - I'm what you would call a "leftie" and have no problem acknowledging his humble background, his parent's hardwork and his obvious intelligence to go as far as he has. Keir Starmer has a very similar background. Used his talents on human rights instead of crashing the world economy as part of a hedge fund, but never mind.

He and his wife need to be seen to be doing the right thing with tax. And hey guess what - they agree they've been setting a bad example! That's why she's changed it! Doesn't that say it all?

Why does this nonsense keep popping up?

His wife paid all the taxes she was legally obliged to pay and now she's paying tax here as well.

Every rich person has lawyers advising them about their tax commitments and will find ways of paying the least amount of tax possible, whilst doing nothing illegal. No one is going to pay tax they don't have to pay.

You might not like it but it's all well within the law.

The same with businesses. I'm sure a great many of you drink coffee in the cafes of a company that has traded here for years yet pays no tax into our economy.

You're naïve if you think anyone who runs a business doesn't claim all the tax exemptions on everything they can.

From the biggest to the smallest company they're all only paying the smallest amount of tax they're obliged to pay and some of them don't even do that.

Blah, blah, it’s still greed. Nobody needs £730 million, unless your kids or entire family had some catastrophically bad luck and needed care etc. The rest is greed.

@LadyWithLapdog so what do you suggest they do with the money, give it to you?

Non Domicile is neither a loophole nor tax avoidance.

Those claiming she did anything wrong are talking out of their arses. 🙄

BTW I have over 30 years experience with HMRC.

Do you? I thought the whole thing was pathetic.

Sunaks morality or integrity is obviously iffy. Let’s hope he at least has more brains.

There'll be British people round the world using non dom status in foreign countries and paying tax back to the UK. These are international tax arrangements. It's not a loophole.
Celebrities were berated for tax avoidance schemes that the HMRC closed down.
The two things are very different.