Akshata Murthy, whose family business is estimated to be worth around ,5 3.5 billion, used the valuable tax system only in April 2020 – two months after her husband took over taxes for the country, according to two people who know its financial arrangements. That could have saved her millions of pounds in tax on foreign profits for several years, they claimed. It is not known exactly how much Murthy has saved, but sources told the Independent that he could have saved her millions of pounds in foreign tax for several years. The Ministry of Finance declined to comment. A spokesman for Mr Sunak did not respond to a request for comment. The so-called “non-dom” scheme is perfectly legal and can save a person from paying tax in the UK for income from dividends from foreign investment, rent payments on real estate abroad or bank interest. The scheme also means that you avoid inheritance tax in the UK. Most people living in the UK, meanwhile, have to pay tax on all their income, no matter where they come from. Unlike non-residents, non-residents can live in the UK for 365 days a year. The news comes as Rishi Sunak’s popularity with voters plummeted amid ongoing debate over the government’s response to rising living costs. A YouGov poll found that more than half of Britons now have a negative view of the chancellor, compared with 28 per cent who view him positively. Mr Sunak raised the tax burden for British taxpayers to the highest level since the 1940s in his spring statement last month, although the standard of living is facing the biggest drop ever. The latest figures from the chancellor’s personal estate revealed on Tuesday that the couple had donated more than .000 100,000 to Winchester College, the only private school they attended. Ms. Murthy, who met Mr. Sunak while the couple was studying at Stanford University in the United States, has invested in a number of companies and is the daughter of an Indian billionaire, Narayana Murthy. Resident Number 11 is also a director of Catamaran Ventures UK, which is described as a venture capital and private equity “family office” operating outside of Bangalore and London. Her father is the president of the Indian arm of Catamaran. In addition to an MBA, Ms. Murthy has a range of business experience and speaks four languages, according to her Linkedin profile. One of Murthy’s investments is in Infosys, a New York-based Indian company founded by her father, which generated billions of dollars in revenue last year and has caught the media spotlight in recent weeks. The company recently closed its operations in Russia. The move followed criticism of the contrast between her continued presence in the country and Mr Sunak’s public appeal to all companies to “think very carefully” about maintaining any investment in Russia following the Putin regime’s violent invasion of Ukraine. Mr. Sunak has not declared his wife’s participation in the Register of Interests Members and previously said that he “literally followed the ministerial code”. The ministerial code stipulates that ministers “must ensure that a conflict between their public duties and their private interests, financial or otherwise, does not arise, or could reasonably be perceived to arise.” He added that when appointing ministers, ministers should provide a list of all interests that “could be considered to be in conflict”, which should also cover “the interests of the minister’s wife or partner and the immediate family”. Dividends from Infosys, calculated from Murthy’s 0.93 per cent stake in the company – worth around 25 725 million based on recent market valuations – suggest that payments could be around ,6 11.6 million; last year. As a non-resident, Ms Murthy would not have to pay tax on these dividend payments in the UK. This compares to an ordinary resident of the United Kingdom, who, paying dividend tax at the so-called “extra rate” (for all dividend payments except personal allowance) would have to pay a tax of 38.1 per cent on of payments. As a result, the special scheme could save her tax of around 4 4.4 million, although she may have had tax liabilities abroad. There is no suggestion that the Chancellor has minimized his own tax bill. However, despite the huge financial reward it can offer individuals, there is no institutionalized definition of what non-dom means. Instead, the HMRC decides whether they or their father were born outside the United Kingdom or have lived outside the United Kingdom for many years. Notable examples of non-residential public life include the former Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, who is Canadian. Lord Goldsmith, Minister for the Pacific, who was embroiled in controversy over his non-host status when he ran for mayor of London in 201, and Lord Ascroft of Tories, who resigned to remain in House of Lords.
