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🤔)

Argh, tax avoidance, NOT tax evasion (legal vs illegal of course).

I don't know any higher earners not on PAYE who don't use some kind of tax loopholes. They are everywhere one of the biggest ones is set up a ltd company set up a relative who has no taxable earnings as a director so they will only pay 20 percent tax on the dividends.

But she doesn’t have to rescind the non-Dom status for 15 years - that’s the law and she was well within it.
So your personal opinion is that it comes down to intent.

your personal opinion is not however the barometer for deciding a legal/genuine non-Dom status.
you seem to be conflating your opinion and the law. She was legally a genuine non-dom, even though you don’t like it.

I did not write as if I had the same tax status. I was very clear I and other charity workers would be UK nationals. And that Akshata Murthy is an Indian national with an Indian income.

if your basic argument is that you don’t like the law then lobby your MP. But it’s unfair to castigate law-abiding people because they don’t adhere to your personal preferences

The thing is, this works both ways. If a UK domiciled individual moved abroad with this fact pattern, there would be some debate over whether they were UK dom, but pretty much if they retained any UK assets / visited the UK regularly they would be considered UK dom. Domicile, unlike residency, is very “sticky” and hard to change.

It’s therefore only fair it works the other way, in that it’s difficult to assume UK domicile (at least until deemed dom kicks in).

She’s done absolutely nothing wrong.

(Disclaimer, I’m a tax adviser to multi millionaires, so have significant professional experience and a potentially biased view on the subject).

Also, it’s likely that she is still non dom, and so won’t pay UK inheritance tax. Likely all that has changed is she has ceased to claim the remittance basis that she is entitled to claim.

if your basic argument is that you don’t like the law then lobby your MP. But it’s unfair to castigate law-abiding people because they don’t adhere to your personal preferences

Don’t be ridiculous. Of course I can set a higher bar for how I view people than ‘they don’t break the law.’

I did not write as if I had the same tax status. I was very clear I and other charity workers would be UK nationals. And that Akshata Murthy is an Indian national with an Indian income

you presented it as equivalent, which it’s clearly not.

I don't see the issue - she is the wife not the actual PM. She is foreign and her foreign income should not need to be taxed. She is not breaking the law.
About 300 000 people in the UK are non-dom, including some MPs/ex MPs and peers. Why is his wife being targeted as though this is a new thing?

His wife is not a UK tax payer, so there is no dodge. It probably juts rankles because of the sheer amount of wealth her family comes from. I also don't particularly like' his narrative about the whole coming from nothing and making it good- whilst n denying his grandparents were 'poor' immigrants- both parents were well paid professionals- and the 'struggle' to send him to a £45,000 school isn't something that just a little hard work and a good work ethic is in the realms of the majority of the public. And his wife is extremely privileged, which by his own upbringing and marriage to her- he is too. I have no issue with his success- or doubt he's worked hard, but attempting to align this story with that of the vast majority of Brittish people, is where it puts my back up. He came from a position of privilege, married into more privileged, we are nowhere near on the same page.

This is exactly my feeling. Surely she should be paying taxes in India on her Indian earned income. If the businesses are in India then surely her taxes should benefit the country where the business is operating and hiring staff etc.
She is paying UK taxes on UK earned income.
Why do you want her Indian money?

Both his parents were poor Immigrants born in Kenya and Tanzania. His grandmother sold her wedding jewellery to finance the move to the UK. I can't imagine they were wealthy. They were likely poor in comparison to the average British person. Both his parents studied in the UK (so worked their way up from nothing), one became a GP and other a Pharmacist. It's not uncommon for foreign people to push for education as a way to ensure they have a more comfortable life.

45K per year school fees when you have 3 children is a lot even for a GP - were his parents qualified by then? How much do you think a Pharmacist earns?

@Berrylina- his grandparents were first generation immigrants with nothing- which is how his parents were brought up- but that's not how he was brought up- if that makes sense. He wasn't brought up 'poor' (hate that word) but within a professional couple with 2 degrees and well paying jobs. I understand that education and the focus on it within many families who immigrate does mean that the first generation children do push for success- and don't begrudge that at all- but his direct parents brought him up in a professional, and better off environment financially than many. That's the point I was trying to make. The grandparents lack of wealth doesn't mean he also was brought up the same. Also though- don't care as he has worked hard and wouldn't take that away from him! Will be very interested to see what he is proposing to help at this time if huge economic uncertainty for many people day to day

Same about people who work cash in hand we’re just selective who we don’t like

Are you sure you were non dom, it sounds like you were non resident if you were living abroad?
non dom is different as it applies to people who are uk resident and living in the uk but have a non uk domicile usually being more somewhere else so although they are taxable on all their income generated in the uk they are not necessarily taxable on their income generated in other countries

Being born somewhere else that should say

Literally!

What do you think they've done which is immoral?

It would make most sense to me if tax were paid in the country where you cast your political votes.

I'm with you op and can see from the answers here mean we will still have a conservative government this time next year.
I have no desire to be lectured on the tough time we are facing and how we need to scrimp on heating and eating by a multi millionaire tax dodger. But...strong and stable...eh?!

OP do you think all rich foreign citizens who reside elsewhere and whose money is earned in a different country should pay taxes in the UK?

she’s not benefitted from the UK at all, it’s not where she grew up or was educated and it’s not where the money is earned.

She didn't reside elsewhere though. She lived in the UK full time, owned houses here and was educating her children here while claiming that she was only here temporarily and intending to go "home" to live eventually, either with or without her husband. If she was lying about that then that's tax avoidance, bordering on evasion.

Im generously inclined to them at the moment because they're not the sodding Johnson's, and prepared to believe that like many couples with ties to two countries they originally picked country A, but when the he saw the opportunity of a huge promotion in country B they changed their plans. Happens all the time on a smaller scale.

If you look at ring wing media you’ll see more if what you’re after. He’s too rich, too brown, too foreign. He won’t have it easy, lots of racists out there, sadly.

Conversely I guess it demonstrates he can make good economic decisions for himself personally which hopefully will translate to good economic decisions for the country. 🤷‍♀️

Love everyone defending this.

She's a multi millionaire many times over.

Was (not anymore of course) paying £30,000 a year to not pay tax on her full earnings.

Yes it's a legal loophole and she's not done anything illegal.

No it's not morally defensible - no-one needs to be worth £740 million for one, it's an obscene amount of money, and two - if you can afford £30k a year to avoid tax, you can afford the tax. And three, if your husband has aspirations for the top of the government, why the hell would you think you could get away with it, especially in this climate?? And as he was prepared to increase taxes for everyone else when he was chancellor! Idiot.