Akshata Murty, the wife of Rishi Sunak, has said that she will pay tax on her overseas income after facing a massive backlash over her non-domicile tax status.
"My decision to pay UK tax on all my worldwide income will not change the fact that India remains the country of my birth, citizenship, parents' home and place of domicile", Murty, who is the daughter of the billionaire founder of the Indian-headquartered company Infosys, said in a short statement.
Murty said she would now be paying UK tax "on all my worldwide income, including dividends and capital gains, wherever in the world that income arises".
"I do this because I want to, not because the rules require me to. These new arrangements will begin immediately and will also be applied to the tax year just finished (2021-22)".
Murty issed a statement just hours after Sunak defended his wife's decision to take advantage of a legal loophole that allows many foreigners to escape UK taxes in an interview with the Sun newspaper.
"To smear my wife to get at me is awful. Every single penny that she earns in the UK she pays UK taxes on, of course she does. And every penny that she earns internationally, for example in India, she would pay the full taxes on that", the Chancellor said.
According to Sunak, his spouse was entitled to avoid paying taxes because she is an Indian citizen and intends to return to her home country at some point to take care for her aging parents.
British opposition politicians have grilled Sunak demanding more details about his wife's finances after her non-dom status was confirmed. This status allows those who aren't permanent residents to avoid UK taxes on money made overseas.