ishi sunak has released its long-awaited tax filings showing that it has paid more than £1 million in UK tax over the past three financial years.
The rich Prime Minister dodged questions about whether he understood what it was like for people struggling to pay their bills or striking for higher wages, saying that people were interested in “what I’m going to do for them” and that the cost of living is ” number one”. priority”.
The release, which came on a very busy news day in Westminster, followed a commitment Mr Sunak first made during his Tory leadership last summer.
It showed that he paid £432,493 in tax in the 2021/2022 financial year, £393,217 in 2020/2021 and £227,350 in 2019/20.
The former California resident paid separately $6,892 of $45,948 in dividends taxed separately in the US in 2021.
Mr Sunak made nearly £2 million through income and capital gains in 2021/22.
His income from dividends was £172,415 and from capital gains £1.6m. According to the summary, most of it related to a US-based investment fund listed as a blind trust.
His total investment income that year was more than double his MP’s salary of £81,908.
Instead of a full tax return, No. 10 published “a summary” of Mr Sunak’s UK taxable income, capital gains and taxes paid as reported to HM Revenue & Customs, prepared by auditing firm Evelyn Partners.
Critics questioned the timing of its release, accusing No. 10 of trying to bury the tax return under other headlines.
It coincided with the long-awaited whims of Mr. Sunak’s predecessor, Boris Johnsonby MPs on whether he misled the House of Commons with his partygate denials.
(The returns) reveal a tax system designed by successive Tory governments in which the prime minister pays a much lower tax rate than working people facing the highest tax burden in 70 years
It was also on the same day that the House of Commons voted on Mr Sunak’s new deal on post-Brexit trade arrangements for Northern Ireland.
Deputy Labor leader Angela Rayner tweeted, “Wonder why he got elected today?”
She said his tax documents “reveal a tax system designed by successive Tory governments in which the Prime Minister pays a much lower tax rate than working people facing the highest tax burden in 70 years”.
Liberal Democrat cabinet spokesperson Christine Jardine said: “After months of promising to release his tax returns, I don’t understand why Rishi Sunak has snuck them out while the world is distracted by Boris Johnson’s partygate whims.”
He will be “remembered as the tax-raising prime minister,” she added.
Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown, told the PA news agency: “It is clear that Rishi Sunak has an impressive level of wealth. Over these three years he has earned approximately £411,000 in salary and benefits – which is a fraction of the £4.77 million he earned in total, including dividends and capital gains.
“An American investment fund is responsible for the lion’s share of its income. He has paid more than £1 million in tax. However, the fact that he will only pay 20% capital gains tax (or 28% on all properties in the fund) means his total tax bill is much lower than if it were subject to income or dividend tax.
Mr Sunak was asked on Wednesday evening on a visit to RAF Valley in Anglesey, North Wales, if he could empathize with people struggling with the cost of living crisis.
He said: “Well I published my tax return because I said I would in the interest of transparency and I am glad I did.
“Now, I think ultimately people are interested in what I’m going to do for them.
“You know, you talk about cost of living and obviously that’s the number one priority I struggle with.”
Conservative Party chairman Greg Hands defended his boss’s high tax bill, saying “we want rich people in this country to pay a lot of taxes”.
“I think we should be proud that people in this country pay taxes and proud that they fund our excellent public services,” he told ITV’s Peston.
Mr Hands also told Sky that the prime minister “comes from a relatively humble background” and that his parents had “saved a lot of money” to send him to private school in Winchester.
Sunak, who is considered one of Downing Street’s wealthiest residents, first pledged to publish his tax returns during his failed campaign to become leader of the Conservative Party last summer, in a bid to put transparency at the heart of his bid.
He promised to do so repeatedly in recent months, and was continually pressured to release the documents when it emerged that former Tory minister Nadhim Zahawi settled an estimated £4.7 million bill with HMRC while he was chancellor.
Mr Sunak’s family finances came under scrutiny earlier when he was chancellor when his wife Akshata Murty’s “non-stupid” status was revealed.
The scheme reportedly saved her millions while the cost of living soared.
Following the controversy, Ms Murty, the daughter of the fashion designer and billionaire who married Mr Sunak in 2009, declared that she would pay UK taxes on all her worldwide income.
Questions were also raised when it emerged that Mr Sunak had retained a US “green card” for some time while he was chancellor, entitling him to permanent residence in the US.
With stints at investment bank Goldman Sachs and as a hedge fund manager under his belt, Mr. Sunak was already independently wealthy when he entered politics in his early 30s.
Labor backbench MP Richard Burgon tweeted: “The Prime Minister is saving huge sums through a tax break where capital gains are taxed at lower rates than income.
“I campaigned to level these rates, which would bring in £17bn a year.
“No wonder the prime minister refuses to do it.”
While prime ministers are not required to disclose their tax affairs, David Cameron also released details about him in 2016 after coming under pressure to do so.