Sunak row: Reveal all about ministers' personal tax, says Starmer

Boris Johnson must bring the Rishi Sunak "saga" to a close by revealing if any ministers are taking steps to cut their personal tax bill, Labour says.

Mr Sunak says he is confident he will be cleared by an internal inquiry after his wife Akshata Murty's "non-dom" tax status was revealed.

Ms Murty has said she will now pay UK tax on all her earnings.

But Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the chancellor - and other ministers - have not been fully transparent.

Sir Keir said he wanted an assurance from Mr Johnson that his ministers have never used non-dom status to reduce their own tax bill.

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He also called on the government to reveal whether ministers had held assets in tax havens, benefitted from trusts located in tax havens or invested in schemes judged by HMRC to constitute tax avoidance.

Over the weekend, Health Secretary, and former Chancellor, Sajid Javid said he had claimed non-dom status for six years before he was an MP.

The Labour leader said: "To appoint one chancellor with suspect tax affairs is sloppy, to appoint two is a habit.

"Boris Johnson needs to bring this saga to a close and confirm that no other sitting Conservative minister is doing or has done anything to reduce their own personal tax bill, while they preside over the biggest tax hike in 70 years."

Separately, the Liberal Democrats have drawn up draft legislation, which, if passed, would force ministers to reveal if their households are using offshore tax havens or have ever benefited from non-dom status.

The party has also referred Mr Sunak to the MPs' standards watchdog, Kathryn Stone, arguing that he failed to declare details of his investments before joining the cabinet.

Asked if other ministers had non-dom status, a No 10 spokeswoman said ministers were required to make relevant declarations about their finances.

In 2010 a law was passed to prevent MPs and members of the House of Lords from registering themselves as non domicile.

Mr Sunak has asked Lord Geidt - the PM's ethics adviser - to investigate whether he followed the rules on declaring financial interests.

No 10 said the review was under way and that the findings would be published in "a timely manner".

The prime minister's spokeswoman also said Boris Johnson has full confidence in Mr Sunak.

Rishi Sunak married Akshata Murty in 2009, after meeting her as a student in California

In a Twitter post on Sunday, Mr Sunak said he was "confident" Lord Geidt - who also investigated allegations about Mr Johnson's refurbishment of his Downing Street flat - would find he had appropriately declared all his interests.

Ms Murty, owns £700m in shares of the Indian IT giant Infosys - founded by her father - from which she received £11.6m in dividend income last year.

She is estimated to have saved £2m a year on this income by registering as a non dom with HM Revenue and Customs.

She will continue to be officially domiciled in India, her home country, but has chosen to pay UK tax on her worldwide income. to help ease political pressure on her husband.

She will now pay tax on her overseas earnings, but her domicile remains India, where she has said she intends to eventually return.

Mr Sunak said he had made the Cabinet Office aware of his wife's non-dom status when he first became a government minister in 2018.

The chancellor has also ordered a leak inquiry into how that information came to be reported in the media.

Downing Street has rejected newspaper reports that its staff leaked damaging stories about Mr Sunak.

Rishi Sunak's reputation has gone from golden to tinfoil. His personal ratings have plummeted and his leader-in-waiting status has been dented, if not destroyed.

But his job as chancellor looks safe for now.

He has the backing of the prime minister so won't get fired.

The number of Conservative backbenchers grumbling about his handling of this appears to be outweighed by the number of colleagues who think he's a good operator so they won't get rid of him. And the review into his declarations of interests isn't likely to cause him too many problems either.

But all of that could change under pressure from the opposition, the media and any further revelations, or if he becomes a threat to the reputation of the government.

What will be fascinating to see is whether this changes the approach Rishi Sunak takes to the rising cost of living.

Will the chancellor accused of being too rich feel he has to do more to help people who are getting poorer?

It feels like Rishi Sunak has gained a lifetime's-worth of baggage in a fortnight.

Most politicians have it - what matters is how much it weighs them down.

It has also been revealed that Mr Sunak held a US green card until last year, entitling him to permanent residence, a path to citizenship, in that country.

It also means he filed US tax returns, prompting opposition questions about whether he gained a financial advantage from this.

Labour also said the public needed to know if Mr Sunak has ever benefitted from tax havens.

It follows a report in the Independent which said Ms Murty had received income from companies based in tax havens.