Akshata Murty can legally avoid paying tax on any income she earns outside Britain. That is rather a lot
—or, as often, not—by the rich is an emotive issue. So there was quite a brouhaha in Britain this week when it emerged that the wife of, the chancellor of the exchequer, has non-domiciled tax status. As a “non-dom” resident, . Although she is a fashion designer by profession, she reportedly owns a little under 1% of Infosys, a giant Indian IT-services company founded by her father—a stake worth around £710m . It would have generated £11.6m in dividends for her in the past tax year.
Their existence is a peculiarity of Britain’s tax system, dating back to the early 19th century. Non-dom residents comprise foreigners living in Britain and “hereditary” ones who were born in Britain but whose parents or grandparents considered another country their permanent home, and who say they may want to return there in the future. Such people enjoy special tax benefits.
A spokeswoman for Ms Murty pointed out that she pays tax in Britain on everything she is legally required to. Moreover, she is an Indian citizen and India does not allow its citizens to hold citizenship of another country simultaneously—though that does not in itself require her to claim non-dom status in Britain. Kwasi Kwarteng, Britain’s business secretary, told the BBC that Ms Murty “pays tax abroad on her foreign income”.
For now Ms Murty and her money are safe. But it comes on top of a brutal few weeks for her husband. Not long ago, Mr Sunak seemed to pose a deadly threat to the premiership of Boris Johnson, Britain’s prime minister. Mr Sunak’s net approval rating peaked at +49 during the covid-19 pandemic. That has now sunk, to -29, after Mr Sunak presided over athat did little to alleviate a cost of living crisis and included an increase in national insurance, a payroll tax.
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