Rishi Sunak’s wife claims non-domicile status

[vetran]

I'd agree with this - except for HMRC's habit of retrospectively pursuing us - which is a habit they don't seem to have in the case of millionaire non-doms.

well the millionaires can afford top tax lawyers.

[WTFH]

Have you mis-read the story somehow? She pays tax on foreign income abroad, and pays tax on UK income in the UK. India won't let her have dual nationality and she doesn't want to renounce her nationality.

That's one spin on it.
Another spin that would take place if she wasn't married to the chancellor is that...

she is a foreigner living in the UK in a property paid for by tax payers, but refuses to accept UK nationality.
What is her UK income level, do we know how much (if any) tax she pays in the UK, while living at our expense - effectively on housing benefits.

[Peoplesoft bloke]

Whilst you are almost certainly right, that's not her fault. That's the fault of the law and how HMRC apply the law.

Indeed - and she's married to a person who has a much greater influence over those issues than any of us and 99% of the country.

[mattster]

Have you mis-read the story somehow? She pays tax on foreign income abroad, and pays tax on UK income in the UK. India won't let her have dual nationality and she doesn't want to renounce her nationality.

Nationality has nothing to do with it, other than enabling her to use the non-dom loophole. Nothing stops her from being treated as an ordinary resident of the UK for tax purposes, she just doesn't want to. Legal? Maybe, although if your intention is to remain in the UK long term then you are not supposed to benefit from non-dom status. Proving that is difficult obviously, but her position is at the very fishy (rishi) end of the spectrum with the strength of her current connections in the UK.
The real issue is that the whole idea of full-time resident "non doms" is ludicrous and only ever benefits the very wealthy, which is of course why it exists. They've been talking about getting rid of it for years.

[d000hg]

That's one spin on it.
Another spin that would take place if she wasn't married to the chancellor is that...

she is a foreigner living in the UK in a property paid for by tax payers, but refuses to accept UK nationality.
What is her UK income level, do we know how much (if any) tax she pays in the UK, while living at our expense - effectively on housing benefits.

She is living in a property provided to her husband. He would be living there anyway, so nothing further is being paid for.
She is not refusing to take on UK nationality, she is refusing to lose her Indian nationality. Why should she have to give up her identity just because her husband is on the cabinet? Are we saying cabinet members can't marry foreigners unless they become citizens?

If she weren't married to the chancellor, this wouldn't be a story at all.

[vetran]

That's one spin on it.
Another spin that would take place if she wasn't married to the chancellor is that...

she is a foreigner living in the UK in a property paid for by tax payers, but refuses to accept UK nationality.
What is her UK income level, do we know how much (if any) tax she pays in the UK, while living at our expense - effectively on housing benefits.

One minute everyone is upset by removing British nationality from one person entitled to Bangladeshi nationality now you are trying to remove someone's Indian nationality so she pays more UK tax, make your mind up!

The non dom rule needs changing it would help with quite a few tax avoiders from memory the Tetrapak CEO was non dom but had a huge Palace in England. He was Swedish so attacking it as racism doesn't fly.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/...litics.economy

Of course the non dom's rule means we do get billionaires coming here and spending loads of cash without using the facilities even if we miss out on tax abroad. Marrying a resident brit might be a sensible trigger to challenge to a non dom rule.

[mattster]

She is not refusing to take on UK nationality, she is refusing to lose her Indian nationality. Why should she have to give up her identity just because her husband is on the cabinet? Are we saying cabinet members can't marry foreigners unless they become citizens?

This is a complete red herring. Not having UK citizenship allows her to exploit non-dom status, but does nothing to prevent her from being treated in the same way as any other resident. Non-dom status is something she has actively applied for. There is a double taxation treaty with India so she wouldn't end up paying more tax than an ordinary UK citizen. Non-dom is, supposedly, for temporary residents of the UK who maintain their "home" and life connections in another country. I don't believe that this is truly the case for this lady, who is married to a UK citizen and raises her children here. Technically legal, maybe. Spirit of the law - definitely not. Shady AF for the wife of the chancellor? Very much so. This is a bad look and even the Daily Mail agrees and, at the end of the day, how it looks to the great unwashed is what is going to matter. Rishi will never be PM, but perhaps he would prefer the extra £4m a year anyway - I know I would.

[NotAllThere]

After you have been resident for 9 years this little loop hole is only really available to multi millionaires and billionaires. Because you have to pay a hefty annual charge to claim this after 9 years.

She is almost at that point, she will have to pay £30,000 charge soon, which rises to £60,000 at year 12 after that.

You consider £60K a hefty charge? INKSPE!

According to the times, she claims that because she's an Indian citizen, and can't hold dual nationality, she is forced to be non-dom. Does that mean every Indian citizen resident in the UK is also in the same boat?

I wonder if she's Rishi's Dom.

[mattster]

According to the times, she claims that because she's an Indian citizen, and can't hold dual nationality, she is forced to be non-dom.

This is a flat-out untruth pushed by a few govt apparatchiks this morning. Nothing stops her being treated as UK resident for tax purposes - indeed, it would be easier for her this way rather than applying for non-dom status.

[DoctorStrangelove]

Those £160 coffee mugs don't pay for themselves you know. .

Anyway, you peasants are just jealous. .