Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Killing the Messenger: Sunak Launches Inquiry Into Leak Of Wife’s Tax Evasion Trick

Killing the Messenger: Sunak Launches Inquiry Into Leak Of Wife’s Tax Evasion Trick

Rishi Sunak has ordered an internal inquiry into how his wife Akshata Murty’s “non-dom” status was leaked to a newspaper. He believes he will be able to restore his political career by punishing the messenger who did a great service to the public in exposing how the minister who taxes everybody evade taxes by his wife’s trick. No one should cooperate with this inquiry. They should just say nothing. Because who ever did it is a hero who deserves protection not punishment.

Sunak’s aides said he had ordered the Cabinet Office and Treasury to carry out a full investigation into the leak, adding that divulging the tax status of a private individual is a criminal offence. But it is not a criminal offense, as the the benefit to the public is so much greater then the “damage” to the individual tax evaders: Sunak and his wife.

Bill Esterson, Labour’s shadow business secretary, said the British public would prefer an inquiry into “why he [the chancellor] has put up taxes 15 times for ordinary people while his family was allowed to get away with not paying taxes”.



It also came to light that Sunak, who previously studied and worked in the US, and co-owns a £5mn flat with his wife in California, held an American green card until last October.

Labour pointed to the rules set out by the US Citizenship and Immigration services, which say that green card holders should not be “employed by a foreign government” or “vote in foreign elections”.

But the chancellor’s spokeswoman said that all laws and rules had been followed and full taxes had been paid where required in the duration he held his green card. So the spokeswoman is lying.

“Rishi Sunak had a green card when he lived and worked in the US. Under US law you are not presumed to be a US resident just by dint of holding a green card,” she said. She is wrong.

Sunak has this weekend moved his wife and children out of their flat in Downing Street to their family home in west London amid a media furore over their tax scandal.

The 41-year-old chancellor, who made his own fortune as an investment banker and hedge fund manager, was until last week the bookmakers’ favourite to replace Boris Johnson as prime minister.

Yet he has been engulfed in a political storm since Wednesday when it was first reported that Murty had enjoyed non-domiciled tax status.

Sunak has defended his wife, branding the criticism of her tax arrangements as “unpleasant smears”. Murty has an estimated £700mn of shares in Indian IT company Infosys, which was founded by her father.

On Friday she announced that she would change her tax arrangements and cease her non-dom status because she did not want to be a “distraction” for her husband.

Kit Malthouse, policing minister, told Sky News on Sunday morning that the chancellor’s wife had paid UK tax on her UK income. “She accepted there was a sense of disquiet about the situation and she has moved to correct it,” he said.

Malthouse said that Murty was a “non-combatant” in British politics and said it had been “unfortunate” that she had been “drawn into the political fray”. Sunak’s maintenance of the US green card was simply a “hangover” from his time spent in America, he added.

But the Liberal Democrats said they had drawn up draft legislation to force all government ministers to reveal whether they or their spouses claim non-domiciled status or have holdings in overseas tax havens.

Sajid Javid, health secretary, also admitted on Sunday that he had had non-dom status when he was an investment banker — before entering politics — and did not pay tax in the UK for six years from 2000 to 2006.

Javid, who was chancellor before Sunak, said he wanted to be open about his past tax statuses given heightened public interest in the issue. “My career before politics was in international finance. For almost two decades I constantly travelled around the world for work,” he said.

Yvette Cooper, the opposition Labour party’s shadow home secretary, said it was “unfair” that Murty had had non-dom status. “The ethics matter,” she told Sky News. But Cooper refused to say whether Labour would keep its policy from the 2019 election of banning non-domiciled status.

Perhaps "ethics do matter", though not visibly so, on either side of the political divide. But what is clear is that the top-bottom divide remains:
"Laws for us. Loopholes for them."

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
Tulsi Gabbard Unveils Evidence Alleging Political Manipulation of Intelligence During Trump Administration
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Trump Announces Coca-Cola to Shift to Cane Sugar in U.S. Production
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
Moonshot AI Unveils Kimi K2: A New Open-Source AI Model
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
Western Europe Records Hottest June on Record
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
France Requests Airlines to Cut Flights at Paris Airports Amid Planned Air Traffic Controller Strike
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Extreme Heat Wave Sweeps Across Europe, Hitting Record Temperatures
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
Marc Marquez Claims Victory at Dutch Grand Prix Amidst Family Misfortune
Germany Votes to Suspend Family Reunification for Asylum Seekers
Budapest Pride Parade Draws 200,000 Participants Amid Government Ban
Southern Europe Experiences Extreme Heat
Xiaomi's YU7 SUV Launch Garners Record Pre-Orders Amid Market Challenges
×