Akshata Murthy, the wife of British finance minister Rishi Sunak, has said that she is treated as a non-domiciled citizen for tax purposes in the United Kingdom, Reuters reported.
The status means that Murthy is treated as a citizen with a home outside the country and is not required to pay taxes on income from overseas rents, bank interest or foreign dividends.
Murthy has a 0.93% stake in information technology company Infosys, which was founded by her father NR Narayana Murthy. She receives about 11.5 million pounds (Rs 11.56 crore) in annual dividends from her stake in the company, according to The Guardian.
A spokeswoman for Murthy said that she pays taxes on all of her income that is generated within the United Kingdom and would continue to do so.
“Akshata Murthy is a citizen of India, the country of her birth and parents’ home,” the spokeswoman said, according to The Guardian. “India does not allow its citizens to hold the citizenship of another country simultaneously. So, according to British law, Ms Murthy is treated as non-domiciled for UK tax purposes.”
The disclosure came amid a rising controversy in Britain over a record increase in taxes on citizens and soaring inflation. Opposition parties have blamed the government’s and Sunak’s policies for it.
“The chancellor has imposed tax hike after tax hike on the British people,” said Tulip Siddiq, a member of the Opposition Labour Party. “It is staggering that – at the same time – his family may have been benefiting from tax reduction schemes.”
She said the finance minister must explain how much he and his family have saved on their own tax bill at a time when the government was increasing taxes for millions of working families in the country.
However, an unidentified official said that Sunak declared his wife’s status to the government when he became the minister, Reuters reported. The person said that Murthy pays foreign taxes on all her foreign income.
Last week, Sunak was also questioned about the presence of Infosys in Russia amidst Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. He was accused of earning “blood money” by Lesia Vasylenko, a Ukrainian member of Parliament, according to The Indian Express.
When asked about the accusation, Sunak had said that decision at any company is taken by its own employees. “I have nothing to do with that company,” he had said.
However, on April 3, Infosys said it was closing down operations in Moscow and was looking for replacements for the staff employed there, the BBC reported.
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