Sunak and Murty held US green cards while he was chancellor – reports
Rishi Sunak and his wife, Akshata Murty, had US green cards and were declared “permanent US residents” for tax purposes while Sunak served as chancellor.
Sunak and Murty, who own a £5.5m Californian penthouse holiday home, held green cards while they lived in the US and continued to keep the status when they moved to the UK before Sunak was elected as MP for Richmond in North Yorkshire in 2015. Sky News first reported that Sunak continued to hold a green card for at least a year of his chancellorship, which began in 2020.
The Treasury and Murty’s personal spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment. A source close to the couple said “they do not currently have green cards”, but would not say exactly when they gave up the status which requires holders to “make the US your permanent home”.
The disclosure raises further awkward questions for the chancellor – who has said his multimillionaire wife had claimed non-dom status, which allows her to avoid UK tax on her foreign earnings, because she one day intended to return to live in India.
Under non-dom rules, Murty does not legally have to pay tax in the UK on the estimated £11.5m in annual dividends she collects from her stake in her billionaire father’s IT business.
The non-dom status may have allowed her to avoid up to £20m in UK tax. Murty has said she pays tax on the dividends overseas, but has refused to state how much she pays or in which country. She has previously collected other shareholder income via the tax haven of Mauritius, which does not tax dividends.
Holders of green cards are required to pay US tax on their worldwide income – and also to make a legal commitment to “make the US your permanent home”.
They are required to file annual US tax returns, and are
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