Now ex-banker Sajid Javid reveals he was a non-dom before entering politics… as Lib Dems push new law forcing ministers to declare family’s tax status
- Sajid Javid has revealed he was a non-dom before kicking off his political career
- The Health Secretary worked as a banker for decades and lived abroad at times
- Lib Dems calling for new law to force minister to reveal tax status of their family
Sajid Javid has confessed that he too was a ‘non-dom’ while working as a banker earning up to £3million a year.
The Health Secretary revealed that he had the tax status between 2000 and 2006 before beginning his political career.
It meant that Mr Javid – who became an MP in 2010 – did not pay UK tax on his overseas income during this period. He also disclosed that he benefited from an offshore trust 20 years ago when he worked for Deutsche Bank.
The arrangements emerged as Rishi Sunak struggles to contain a growing crisis over his billionaire heiress wife being a non-dom.
Akshata Murthy could have avoided millions of pounds in UK tax due to the status, but has dramatically tried to draw a line under the furore by declaring she will pay British taxes from the most recent financial year.
The Liberal Democrats are turning up the heat by tabling a law that would force ministers to reveal their tax status and that of their family – although it has little chance of reaching the statute books.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid has revealed that he was a non-dom between 2000 and 2006 before beginning his political career
The arrangements emerged as Rishi Sunak struggles to contain a growing crisis over his billionaire heiress wife Akshata Murthy (pictured together) being a non-dom
Mr Javid told the Sunday Times that he had ‘been domiciled in the UK for tax purposes throughout my entire public life’.
‘For almost two decades I constantly travelled around the world for work while resident in the UK, and was at times entirely resident abroad,’ he said.
‘For some of those years, I was non-domiciled for tax purposes. But I paid all UK taxes due on my income.’
Mr Javid said he was entitled to the status because his father was born in Pakistan, although he is not thought to have been domiciled there for tax.
He paid US taxes between 1992 and 1996 when he was posted to New York, before returning to the UK and becoming ‘tax-resident here’.
‘For some of those years I was non-domiciled for tax purposes, but I paid all UK taxes due on my income and have always done so,’ Mr Javid said.
‘In 2006 I moved to Singapore with my family and was therefore no longer a UK tax resident.
‘In 2009, upon my return to the UK, I became tax-resident in the UK again and also proactively chose to give up my non-domiciled status by making the UK my ‘domicile of choice’.’
As for his offshore trust, Mr Javid said that when he became a Minister in 2012, he decided ‘to voluntarily collapse that trust, repatriate all assets to the UK and pay 50 per cent income tax on those assets’.
Mr Javid briefly served as Chancellor between July 2019 and February 2020, and has been tipped for a return Mr Sunak does not survive the controversy.
The Treasury is searching for the mole who revealed that billionaire heiress Akshata Murthy has non-dom status.
The sense of chaos was enhanced further yesterday as removal vans were pictured in Downing Street.
An Opinium poll this weekend shows that approval for Mr Sunak now stands at just 28 per cent, while disapproval is 43 per cent
The Sunaks are moving to their luxury West London home, said to be a long-planned step as their elder daughter is heading to boarding school.
However, it is highly unusual for a Chancellor to live away from No11, partly due to security concerns. Friends have been briefing that he might even opt to walk away from politics to spare his family scrutiny.
Tories also branded Mr Sunak ‘petulant’ for demanding a full leak inquiry, saying it showed how ‘naive’ he is politically.
‘I think he is probably scuppered,’ one former minister told MailOnline. ‘What you are now seeing is somebody who is making basic political mistakes that maturity would have avoided.’
In more grim news for Mr Sunak a poll today found his personal ratings have slumped again and are now at a dismal minus 15 – albeit still slightly better than Boris Johnson’s.
The Lib Dems are planning to table a Ministerial Tax Residency Status Bill when the Commons returns from recess.
Although MPs and peers are not allowed to use non-dom status, their families are not covered by such rules.
Lib Dem MP Christine Jardine said: ‘Rishi Sunak’s continued refusal to answer basic questions about his family’s tax arrangements simply won’t wash. It shows he is completely out of touch with people struggling to pay their bills.
‘The public deserve to know what other steps the Chancellor’s household may have taken to reduce their own tax bill while he hammers families around the country with unfair tax hikes.
‘We have a draft law ready and waiting for when Parliament returns, to force Sunak and other ministers to reveal if their households are not paying their fair share by using tax havens.’
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