London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Jan 29, 2026

Rishi Sunak requests ministerial interests review amid tax row

Rishi Sunak requests ministerial interests review amid tax row

Chancellor Rishi Sunak says he has written to Boris Johnson asking for his ministerial declarations to be reviewed by the independent adviser on ministers' interests.

In a Twitter post, Mr Sunak said he hoped a review would calm "recent speculation" that followed reports about the tax affairs of his wife.

It has been disclosed Akshata Murty was "non-domiciled" for UK tax and Mr Sunak retained a US immigration green card - leading Labour to suggest there could be a potential conflict of interest.

Mr Sunak made the Cabinet Office aware of his wife's tax status as part of his declaration of interests when he first became a government minister in 2018.

Writing on Twitter, Mr Sunak said: "I have always followed the rules and I hope such a review will provide further clarity."

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


In his letter to Mr Johnson, Mr Sunak requested that the independent adviser Lord Geidt review the "various declarations of interest" which he had made since first becoming minister and "reach his own judgment" on whether they were properly declared.

He said his "overriding concern" was to retain public confidence in the answers that he provided, adding he would recommend that all of Lord Geidt's conclusions be made public.

He added: "I am confident that such a review of my declarations will find all relevant information was appropriately declared."

It comes as a Whitehall inquiry is under way into how the details about Mr Sunak's wife were leaked to the media.

She 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.

As a non-domiciled (non-dom) UK resident, Indian citizen Ms Murty is not required by law to pay UK taxes on her overseas income. But she has said she will now do this.

Retaining his green card until last year entitled the chancellor to permanent residence in the US as well as making him liable to file a tax return there.

In his letter to the prime minister, Mr Sunak wrote: "My overriding concern is that the public retain confidence in the answers that are given and I believe the best way of achieving this is to ensure those answers are entirely independent, without bias or favour."

After details of her non-dom status appeared in the press on Wednesday evening, Mr Sunak said his wife had not "done anything wrong" and it was unfair to attack her as a "private citizen".

But on Friday, Ms Murty announced she would change her tax arrangements, telling the BBC she did not want to be a "distraction" for her husband.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper has said there remains a "series of questions" for the chancellor to answer - including whether he had declared his wife's tax status when taking "policy decisions" affecting non-dom households.

Speaking to the BBC's Sunday Morning programme, she said: "The lack of transparency does raise questions about conflict of interest.

"The fact that they have changed their tax arrangements now shows that they do recognise it's a problem - but they wouldn't have done that if this hadn't been public."

Asked about the U-turn on the same programme, Policing Minister Kit Malthouse said the couple had recognised the situation "offended against a British sense of fair play".

"They recognise that there was a disconnect perhaps in the British public's understanding of what was appropriate, and they've corrected that situation now for the future," he added.

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

What is a non-dom?


A non-dom is a UK resident who declares their permanent home, or domicile, outside of the UK.

A domicile is usually the country his or her father considered his permanent home when they were born, or it may be the place overseas where somebody has moved to with no intention of returning.

For proof to the tax authority, non-doms have to provide evidence about their background, lifestyle and future intentions, such as where they own property or intend to be buried.

Those who have the status must still pay UK tax on UK earnings but do not need to pay UK tax on foreign income. They can give up their non-dom status at any time.

Ms Murty has chosen to be domiciled in India via her father, the billionaire Narayana Murty.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Tesla Ends Model S and X Production and Sends $2 Billion to xAI as 2025 Revenue Declines
Starmer Seeks Economic Gains From China Visit While Navigating US Diplomatic Sensitivities
Starmer Says China Visit Will Deliver Economic Benefits as He Prepares to Meet Xi Jinping
UK Prime Minister Starmer Arrives in China to Bolster Trade and Warn Firms of Strategic Opportunities
The AI Hiring Doom Loop — Algorithmic Recruiting Filters Out Top Talent and Rewards Average or Fake Candidates
Amazon to Cut 16,000 Corporate Jobs After Earlier 14,000 Reduction, Citing Streamlining and AI Investment
Federal Reserve Holds Interest Rate at 3.75% as Powell Faces DOJ Criminal Investigation During 2026 Decision
Putin’s Four-Year Ukraine Invasion Cost: Russia’s Mass Casualty Attrition and the Donbas Security-Guarantee Tradeoff
Wall Street Bets on Strong US Growth and Currency Moves as Dollar Slips After Trump Comments
UK Prime Minister Traveled to China Using Temporary Phones and Laptops to Limit Espionage Risks
Google’s $68 Million Voice Assistant Settlement Exposes Incentives That Reward Over-Collection
Kim Kardashian Admits Faking Paparazzi Visit to Britney Spears for Fame in Early 2000s
UPS to Cut 30,000 More Jobs by 2026 Amid Shift to High-Margin Deliveries
France Plans to Replace Teams and Zoom Across Government With Homegrown Visio by 2027
Trump Removes Minneapolis Deportation Operation Commander After Fatal Shooting of Protester
Iran’s Elite Wealth Abroad and Sanctions Leakage: How Offshore Luxury Sustains Regime Resilience
U.S. Central Command Announces Regional Air Exercise as Iran Unveils Drone Carrier Footage
Four Arrested in Andhra Pradesh Over Alleged HIV-Contaminated Injection Attack on Doctor
Hot Drinks, Hidden Particles: How Disposable Cups Quietly Increase Microplastic Exposure
UK Banks Pledge £11 Billion Lending Package to Help Firms Expand Overseas
Suella Braverman Defects to Reform UK, Accusing Conservatives of Betrayal on Core Policies
Melania Trump Documentary Sees Limited Box Office Traction in UK Cinemas
Meta and EssilorLuxottica Ray-Ban Smart Glasses and the Non-Consensual Public Recording Economy
WhatsApp Develops New Meta AI Features to Enhance User Control
Germany Considers Gold Reserves Amidst Rising Tensions with the U.S.
Michael Schumacher Shows Significant Improvement in Health Status
Greenland’s NATO Stress Test: Coercion, Credibility, and the New Arctic Bargaining Game
Diego Garcia and the Chagos Dispute: When Decolonization Collides With Alliance Power
Trump Claims “Total” U.S. Access to Greenland as NATO Weighs Arctic Basing Rights and Deterrence
Air France and KLM Suspend Multiple Middle East Routes as Regional Tensions Disrupt Aviation
U.S. winter storm triggers 13,000-plus flight cancellations and 160,000 power outages
Poland delays euro adoption as Domański cites $1tn economy and zloty advantage
White House: Trump warns Canada of 100% tariff if Carney finalizes China trade deal
PLA opens CMC probe of Zhang Youxia, Liu Zhenli over Xi authority and discipline violations
ICE and DHS immigration raids in Minneapolis: the use-of-force accountability crisis in mass deportation enforcement
UK’s Starmer and Trump Agree on Urgent Need to Bolster Arctic Security
Starmer Breaks Diplomatic Restraint With Firm Rebuke of Trump, Seizing Chance to Advocate for Europe
UK Finance Minister Reeves to Join Starmer on China Visit to Bolster Trade and Economic Ties
Prince Harry Says Sacrifices of NATO Forces in Afghanistan Deserve ‘Respect’ After Trump Remarks
Barron Trump Emerges as Key Remote Witness in UK Assault and Rape Trial
Nigel Farage Attended Davos 2026 Using HP Trust Delegate Pass Linked to Sasan Ghandehari
Gold Jumps More Than 8% in a Week as the Dollar Slides Amid Greenland Tariff Dispute
BlackRock Executive Rick Rieder Emerges as Leading Contender to Succeed Jerome Powell as Fed Chair
Boston Dynamics Atlas humanoid robot and LG CLOiD home robot: the platform lock-in fight to control Physical AI
United States under President Donald Trump completes withdrawal from the World Health Organization: health sovereignty versus global outbreak early-warning access
FBI and U.S. prosecutors vs Ryan Wedding’s transnational cocaine-smuggling network: the fight over witness-killing and cross-border enforcement
Trump Administration’s Iran Military Buildup and Sanctions Campaign Puts Deterrence Credibility on the Line
Apple and OpenAI Chase Screenless AI Wearables as the Post-iPhone Interface Battle Heats Up
Tech Brief: AI Compute, Chips, and Platform Power Moves Driving Today’s Market Narrative
NATO’s Stress Test Under Trump: Alliance Credibility, Burden-Sharing, and the Fight Over Strategic Territory
×