'My Wife Loves India': UK FM Rishi Sunak Defends Akshata Murthy Over Tax Row

Sunak told The Sun newspaper, "She had this before we met before she relocated to this nation."

UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak & His Wife Akshata Murty. (Source: Getty Images)

New Delhi: UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak has responded to the Opposition's criticism of his India-born wife Akshata Murty, daughter of Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy, over her non-domicile tax status, stating she loves her country and would ultimately return to care for her parents, news agency PTI reported.

The Opposition targeted Akshata because of her non-domicile tax status, which means she is not legally required to pay tax in the UK on money earned abroad. Her mother, Sudha Murthy, is a philanthropist.

Sunak told The Sun newspaper, "She had this before we met before she relocated to this nation."

"It wouldn't be reasonable or fair to ask her to sever ties with her country because she happens to be married to me. She loves her country. Like I love mine, I would never dream of giving up my British citizenship. And I imagine most people wouldn't," he was quoted by PTI in its report.

Akshata is accused of utilising her non-domicile status to save millions in taxes, but a spokeswoman for the 42-year-old businesswoman claims she conforms with UK tax regulations as a resident and that the tax classification is due to India's refusal to recognise dual citizenship.

"People, I don't think, have an issue with the fact that there's an Indian woman living in Downing Street. I would hope that most fair-minded people would understand though I appreciate that it is a confusing situation that she is from another country," Sunak said.

The British Indian Cabinet member has previously defended his wife, who owns around 0.9% of Infosys, and father-in-law Narayana, whom he characterised as someone who built a world-class corporation from the ground up.

These are attempted smears against my father-in-law, whom I adore. That guy came from nothing and built a world-class firm that employs, I believe, a quarter-million people worldwide and has altered the face of India, said Sunak.

"If I achieved a tenth of what my father-in-law achieved in his life, I'd be a happy person. I'm really proud of what he's achieved," he said.

The 41-year-old prominent Conservative Party leader, who was viewed as the favourite to succeed Boris Johnson as British Prime Minister until recently, agreed that the so-called non-dom classification has been abused by the ultra-rich to dodge taxes, but that his family is not one of them.

He explained, "I understand that in the past, British individuals tried to utilise this stuff to effectively not pay any tax in the UK. However, this is not the case here. She is not a British national. She is from a different nation. She is originally from India.

That's where her family is, and that's where she'll eventually want to go to look after her parents as they become older. She pays full UK tax on every pound she makes in the UK, just as she does full international tax on every pound she earns abroad, says in India.

The retaliation came after a day of accusations from the Opposition Labour benches of "breathtaking hypocrisy" by a finance minister in charge of taxation, while Sunak asserted his wife had breached no regulations.

"Every single penny she earns in the UK she pays UK taxes on... and every penny that she earns internationally, for example in India, she would pay the full taxes on that," he said.

"To smear my wife to get at me is awful. And if she was living here and didn't just happen to be married to me, this obviously would not be at all relevant, Sunak said.

The minister, who is claimed to have notified the UK Treasury of both his and his family's financial dealings when he joined as a junior minister in 2018, noted that his wife, a fellow Stanford University alumni and director of venture capital company Catamaran UK, is also a professional in her own right.

"These are her options, correct? She's a private individual, and I naturally support my wife's decisions. She is not her husband's property. Yes, he's in politics, and we understand that, but I believe you understand that she can be someone in her own right, independent of her spouse," he said.

(With PTI Inputs)