With embattled British Finance Minister Rishi Sunak’s wife Akshata Murty owning shares worth almost a billion dollars in Infosys, the Indian tech billionaire N R Narayana Murthy’s daughter is richer than Queen Elizabeth II.
According to Infosys’ disclosure to the stock exchanges, Akshata holds shares worth almost a billion dollars in the company. This makes Akshata Murty richer than Queen Elizabeth II, whose personal wealth is about £350 million (USD 460 million), according to the 2021 Sunday Times Rich List quoted by news agency AFP. She gets dividend on the number of shares she holds in Infosys.
After being accused of using her non-domicile status to save millions in taxes, Akshata has said she will now pay UK tax on an arising basis on all her 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.”
What Is The Case?
Akshata in the tweets said that in recent days, people have asked questions about her tax arrangements, as she has paid tax in Britain on her UK income and international tax on her international income.
On this, she said, “This arrangement is entirely legal and how many non-domiciled people are taxed in the UK. But, it has become clear that many do not feel it is compatible with my husband’s role as Chancellor.”
Akshata said she understands and appreciates the British sense of fairness and does not wish her tax status to be a distraction for my husband or to affect my family. “For this reason, I will no longer be claiming the remittance basis for tax… This means I will now pay UK tax on an arising basis on all my worldwide income, including dividends and capital gains, wherever in the world that income arises.”
In a series of tweets on Saturday, she also said these new arrangements will begin immediately and will also be applied to the tax year just finished (2021-22).
On Infosys shareholding, Akshata said Rishi Sunak knows that her long-standing shareholding in Infosys is not just a financial investment but also testament to her father’s work, “of which I am incredibly proud”.
On her Indian identity, she said, “Rishi has always respected the fact that I am Indian and as proud of my country as he is of his. He’s never asked me to abandon my Indian citizenship, ties to India or my business affairs, despite the ways in which such a move would have simplified things for him politically.”
She said her decision to pay UK tax on all her worldwide income will not change the fact that India remains the country of her birth, citizenship, parents’ home and the place of domicile. “But I love the UK too… I have invested in British businesses and supported British causes.”
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