Rishi Sunak is CLEARED by ministerial standards watchdog over his US Green Card and his wife’s non-dom tax status
Rishi Sunak has been cleared of wrong-doing today over his personal tax affairs and those of his non-dom wife.
The Chancellor faced criticism after it was revealed he had held a US Green Card while in office
There was also uproar over Akshata Murty’s tax status and her shareholding in Indian tech firm Infosys, while living in Downing Street.
But Lord Geitdt, the advisor on ministerial standards today cleared him of wrongdoing
In advice to the Prime Minister, Lord Geidt wrote: ‘I advise that the requirements of the ministerial code have been adhered to by the Chancellor and that he has been assiduous in meeting his obligations and in engaging with this investigation.
‘In reaching these judgments, I am confined to the question of conflicts of interest and the requirements of the ministerial code. My role does not touch on any wider question of the merits of such interests or arrangements.’
The Chancellor faced criticism after it was revealed he had held a US Green Card while in office
There was also uproar over Akshata Murty’s tax status and her shareholding in Indian tech firm Infosys, while living in Downing Street .
But Lord Geitdt, the advisor on ministerial standards today cleared him of wrongdoing, saying he had been ‘has been assiduous in meeting his obligations’.
Earlier this month senior Tories and Labour rounded on the Chancellor after it was revealed he held a US Green Card for a year into his term leading the Treasury.
While the status would not save him any money it carries a responsibility to make the United States ‘your permanent home’.
The revelation uncovered by Sky News and not disputed by the Treasury comes after he went on the attack over ‘smears’ against his heiress wife Akshata Murty, who is living in Downing Street while having non-dom tax status.
She has legally avoided paying a huge UK tax bill by paying £30,000 a year to register as based in India, but he insisted she hasn’t ‘done anything wrong’ while accusing his critics of ‘smearing her to get at him’.
Allies of Mr Sunak had already suggested his situation has already been cleared by the peer.
In his May 2021 annual statement the independent adviser on ministers interests said he had ‘gone through the individual returns’ of members of the Cabinet, including their tax affairs and the interested of their spouses.
He went on to say that ‘any issues have been resolved to my satisfaction’, suggesting he was happy with Akshata Murty’s tax status, her shareholding in Indian tech firm Infosys, and the Green Card.
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