Sunak refuses to say if he has benefited from wife’s non-dom status

Chancellor insists ‘all rules were followed’ in first public grilling over tax controversy

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has refused to say whether he and his family have benefited from his wife’s non-domicile tax status.

In his first public grilling since The Independent revealed Akshata Murty’s non-dom status, Mr Sunak insisted that she had “followed all the rules”.

Asked by the BBC if his household benefited – or could benefit – from Ms Murty’s status, he replied: “She has always followed all the rules, paid all the tax in the UK that is due, and paid tax internationally on her international investments.”

Mr Sunak added: “But she recognised that this goes beyond just following those rules, so she had decided to pay both UK and foreign taxes on her foreign investments, and I fully support her decision to do so.”

The chancellor referred himself to Boris Johnson’s advisor Lord Geidt for an investigation into his ministerial interests earlier this month, but has insisted that he “always followed the rules”.

Labour had demanded to know whether Mr Sunak had ever benefited from the use of tax havens, and whether he had received any updates on his blind trust since becoming chancellor.

Sir Keir Starmer’s party has also questioned whether Mr Sunak had made a legal promise to the US when he received his green card – held for almost two years upon entering government

Speaking on his trip to Washington on Thursday, Mr Sunak said the US green card – which he held until October – was “a legacy of my time living and working in America”.

The chancellor also said he is “extremely and sincerely sorry” for the hurt he caused by his attendance at a birthday gathering for Boris Johnson during lockdown.

Mr Sunak said he respected the decision of the police in deciding to fine him for a breach of Covid rules in June 2020 – and also rejected claims he misled parliament on the issue.

“I am extremely and sincerely sorry for the hurt and the anger that this has caused so many people … I have always acted, I believe, in good faith in regard to what I said to parliament.”

Mr Sunak was asked in December if he or his officials attended any of the Downing Street Christmas parties on 27 November or 18 December last year. He replied: “No, I did not attend any parties.”

The chancellor also denied that he had considered resigning last week when he, along with Mr Johnson, received a fixed-penalty notice (FPN). Asked if he had considered stepping down, he said: “No. I am focused on getting on with the job.”

It was reported that Mr Sunak had to be talked out of quitting after it took around six hours for him to issue an apology following his receipt last week of a FPN.