RISHI Sunak is demanding a probe be launched to find out how the media learned of his wife’s non-domiciled tax status.
Akshata Murty was revealed to be paying a £30,000 annual fee to be classified as “non-dom” – despite having been living on Downing Street. The arrangement allowed her to avoid paying millions in UK tax on earnings from abroad.
While she has now said she will be ending that status and paying UK tax on all her earnings, questions around Sunak’s family’s arrangements have continued to linger.
The Chancellor has reacted to the scrutiny with anger, saying he believed his family to be the victims of a “smear campaign”.
READ MORE: Andrew Tickell: Rishi Sunak's been defensive, aggressive and consistently dishonest
Reports said that top allies of Sunak’s had accused No 10 of briefing against him, and suggested that it may have been behind the leaks.
A Labour source further told PA: "It's clear that No 10 are the ones briefing against Rishi Sunak and, after his failure to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, you can understand why."
However, No 10 has denied any connection to the leak of Murty’s tax status, which very few people reportedly knew of.
PA reported that the inquiry desired by Sunak had now begun.
The Chancellor’s team is said to believe that a Labour-supporting official dubbed “red throat” is behind the leak, according to The Sunday Times.
The paper quoted a senior Government official as saying: “There’s going to be a full Cabinet Office and HM Treasury investigation into who had that information and if anyone has requested that information.
“Divulging the tax status of a private individual is a criminal offence.”
Sky News further reported a source close to the Chancellor as saying: "This will be a more aggressive version of leak inquiries... The inquiry will be carried out with a view to potential criminal prosecutions because it is against the law to leak someone’s tax status.”
The SNP have called for Sunak to publish his tax returns following news that he was listed as a beneficiary of a trust in a tax haven, and held a US green card while Chancellor.
Labour accused Sunak of hypocrisy, saying his family had potentially saved tens of millions of pounds as a result of the arrangement while he was putting up taxes for millions of others.
Some experts have estimated that Murty, who remains an Indian citizen, has saved £20 million as a result of not having to pay taxes on her shares in Infosys, an Indian IT company founded by her father.
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