One day you are the cuddly Chancellor, the next you are a tax-rising, tax-dodging politician who had a green card for the US and a wife who doesn’t pay UK tax on her substantial dividend payments from a company her father set up.
Once a Tory always a Tory, as the old saying goes.
It has been estimated that Sunak’s wife’s non-dom status could have saved her £20 million in taxes on dividends from her shares in Infosys, an Indian IT company founded by her father.
Labour accused Mr Sunak of hypocrisy, saying his family was saving tens of millions of pounds as a result of the arrangement while he was putting up taxes for millions of others.
In her letter, Ms Rayner questioned whether Mr Sunak had ever benefited from the use of tax havens – particularly when he ran hedge funds before he was an MP – and whether he had received any updates on his blind trust since becoming Chancellor.
She also questioned whether he had made a legal promise to the US when he received his green card that it was his permanent residence, and, if so, whether he was legally a permanent US resident when he entered Parliament and became a minister.
Infosys
But how deep are the links between Infosys and the government?
Well, Labour Steve Reid MP was interviewed on Sky News this morning and made some more troubling claims about how the company has had access to senior govt officials and secured large contracts.
Steve Reid said: “Rishi Sunak did not declare that his wife was a non-dom and he made changes in the finance bill that benefited non-doms. He should not have taken part in that decision given that his household income may have benefited from it.
“He also failed to declare his wife’s £690 million shareholding in IT company called Infosys.
“From the research we have carried out the company had at least 15 1-to-1 meetings with senior ministers, including the PM, & as a result of this they were awarded multi-million-pound contracts. That will have benefitted Sunak’s household income.”
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Related: Sunak listed as beneficiary of tax haven trusts – at same time as setting taxes in UK