Bermuda Post

Sunday, Mar 26, 2023

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."

Newsletter

Related Articles

Bermuda Post
Close
0:00
0:00
Gordon Moore, a co-founder of Intel Corporation, died at 94
In a dramatic U-turn against His Government: Judicial Overhaul Legislation Must Be Halted, Says Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant
Powell: Silicon Valley Bank was an 'outlier'
Donald Trump arrested – Twitter goes wild with doctored pictures
NYPD is setting up barricades outside Manhattan Criminal Court ahead of Trump arrest.
Credit Suisse's Scandalous History Resulted in an Obvious Collapse - It's time for regulators who fail to do their job to be held accountable and serve as an example by being behind bars.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman tours potential migrant housing in Rwanda as asylum deal remains mired in legal challenges
Paris Rioting vs Macron anti democratic law
'Sexual Fantasy' Assignment At US School Outrages Parents
Credit Suisse to borrow $54 billion from Swiss central bank
Russian Hackers Preparing New Cyber Assault Against Ukraine
Jeremy Hunt insists his Budget will get young parents and over-50s back into work
If this was in Tehran, Moscow or Hong Kong
Nashville police officer, and a female driver shooting one another
TRUMP: "Standing before you today, I am the only candidate who can make this promise: I will prevent World War III."
Mexican President Claims Mexico is Safer than the U.S.
A brief banking situation report
Lady bites police officer and gets instantly reaction
We are witnessing widespread bank fails and the president just gave a 5 min speech then walked off camera.
Donald Trump's asked by Tucker Carlson question on if the U.S. should support regime change in Russia?.
'No relation to the American SVB': India's SVC Bank acts to calm depositors amid brand name confusion.
Good news: The U.S. government is now guaranteeing all deposits, held by, Silicon Valley Bank, and the funds are available as of today
Silicon Valley Bank exec was Lehman Brothers CFO
In a potential last-ditch effort, HSBC is considering a rescue deal to save Silicon Valley Bank UK from insolvency
BBC Director General, Tim Davie, has apologized, but not resigned, yet, following the disruption of sports programmes over the weekend
Elon Musk Is Planning To Build A Town In Texas For His Employees
The Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse effect is spreading around the world, affecting startup companies across the globe
City officials in Berlin announced on Thursday that all swimmers at public pools will soon be allowed to swim topless
Fitness scam
Market Chaos as USDC Loses Peg to USD after $3.3 Billion Reserves Held by Silicon Valley Bank Closed.
A primitive judge in Australia sparked outrage when he told a breastfeeding woman to leave his courtroom for being “a distraction"
Barcelona is feeling the heat as they face corruption charges over payments to former vice-president of Spain's referees' committee, Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira
Senator Tom Cotton: If the Mexican Government Won’t Stop Cartels from Killing Americans, Then U.S. Government Should
Banking regulators close SVB, the largest bank failure since the financial crisis
The unelected UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, an immigrant himself, defends new controversial crackdown on illegal migration
Old clip of Bill Gates saying Ukraine is a big, fat, corrupt sinkhole is going viral
Man’s penis amputated by mistake after he’s wrongly diagnosed with a tumour
In a major snub to Downing Street's Silicon Valley dreams, UK chip giant Arm has dealt a serious blow to the government's economic strategy by opting for a US listing
How do stolen goods end up on Amazon, eBay and Facebook Marketplace?
It's the question on everyone's lips: could a four-day workweek be the future of employment?
Is Gold the Ultimate Safe Haven Asset in Times of Uncertainty?
Spain officials quit over trains that were too wide for tunnels...
Don Lemon, a CNN anchor, has provided a list of five areas that he believes the black community needs to address.
Hello. Here is our news digest from London.
Corruption and Influence Buying Uncovered in International Mainstream Media: Investigation Reveals Growing Disinformation Mercenaries
Givenchy Store in New York Robbed of $50,000 in Merchandise
European MP Clare Daly condemns US attack on Nord Stream
Former U.S. President Carter will spend his remaining time at home and receive hospice care instead of medication
Tucker Carlson called Trump a 'demonic force'
US Joins 15 NATO Nations in Largest Space Data Collection Initiative in History
×