Rachel Reeves promises Labour will close ‘non-dom’ tax loophole
The Labour party has vowed to abolish the “non-dom” tax loophole used by the chancellor Rishi Sunak’s wife to save paying up to £20m in UK tax.
Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, said it “simply isn’t right that those at the top can benefit from outdated non-dom tax perks” while ordinary people struggle with tax rises and the cost of living crisis.
Reeves on Monday said Labour was sending “a clear message” to the global super-rich: “If you make your home in Britain you should pay tax here – on all of your income.”
Labour’s pledge follows the revelation that Sunak’s billionaire heiress wife, Akshata Murty, had been registered as a non-domiciled person for nine years and was paying an annual levy in order to shelter her foreign income from HMRC.
The status meant she could legally avoid UK tax on annual dividends worth millions, which she collected from her family’s IT business empire.
Following days of mounting public and political outrage, Murty announced this month she would begin paying tax on her worldwide income. However, she will not do so on backdated income. She also refused to give up her non-dom status, which could in future allow her family a legal means of avoiding an inheritance tax bill of more than £275m.
It also emerged that Sajid Javid, the health secretary, held non-dom status for six years while a banker, also allowing him to avoid tax on overseas earnings without breaking the law.
“With Labour, people who make the UK their home will contribute to this country by paying tax on their global income,” Reeves said.
“The prime minister and chancellor have spent the last few weeks preoccupied with saving their own skins, and have done nothing to tackle the spiralling cost of living. Even worse, they’ve made it
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