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There are “question marks” around the validity of Sajid Javid’s claim to “non-dom” status, according to tax experts.
The health secretary previously told The Sunday Times he had held non-domiciled status for six years between 2000 and 2006, which would mean not having to pay UK taxes on his overseas earnings.
He said he was entitled to this because his father was born in Pakistan and said he gave up that status in 2009, before he was elected to parliament.
But this is only one of several tests an individual needs to pass to claim the tax benefit.
People with non-dom status are those who live in the UK and are tax residents here but have their permanent home outside the country.
Usually their domicile will be the country that their father considered their permanent home when they were born, and to which they intend to eventually return.
They must demonstrate to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) that their domicile is in another country.
Tax experts said that for Mr Javid’s claim be valid his father would have had to have been domiciled in Pakistan at the time the health secretary was born.
Ray McCann, a tax consultant and former HMRC inspector, told Sky News it was typically only those who are very wealthy who become aware that they can claim non-dom status to save on tax.
He said he would have been “astonished” if Mr Javid’s father had claimed it given how much has been said about his modest background.
He said it is hard to know the circumstances without the health secretary sharing the information but there were some areas that are “not free from doubt”.
“There are some question marks,” he said.
Dan Neidle, former head of tax at Clifford Chance, the law firm, also said he found it “surprising” that Mr Javid’s father…
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Source : skynews
