Rishi Sunak tax returns: Prime Minister paid more than £430k in tax in 2021/22 as returns published for four years

Rishi Sunak has published his long-awaited UK tax documents, showing that he paid more than £1 million in UK tax over the previous three financial years.

The release, which came on a very busy news day in Westminster, followed a commitment first made by the Prime Minister during his Tory leadership run last summer. It showed he paid £432,493 in tax in the 2021/22 financial year, £393,217 in 2020/21, and £227,350 in 2019/20.

The former California-resident separately paid $6,892 from $45,948 of dividends that were taxed separately in the US in 2021. In 2021/22, Mr Sunak made nearly £2 million last year through income and capital gains.

His income from dividends was £172,415, and from capital gains was £1.6m. Most of that related to a US-based investment fund listed as a blind trust, according to the summary.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak standing at the despatch box. Picture: Roger Harris/UK Parliament/AFP via Getty Images

His total investment income that year was more than double his MP’s salary of £81,908. Rather than a full tax return, No 10 published “a summary” of Mr Sunak’s UK taxable income, capital gains and tax paid as reported to HM Revenue & Customs, prepared by accountancy service Evelyn Partners.

Critics questioned the timing of the release, accusing No 10 of attempting to bury the tax statement under other headlines. It coincided with the highly anticipated grilling of Mr Sunak’s predecessor Boris Johnson by MPs over whether he misled the House of Commons with his denials about partygate.

It was also on the same day as the Commons voted on Mr Sunak’s new deal on post-Brexit trading arrangements for Northern Ireland.

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner tweeted: “Wonder why he’s chosen today?” Mr Sunak, who is regarded as among the richest ever inhabitants of Downing Street, first pledged to publish his tax returns during his unsuccessful campaign to become Conservative Party leader last summer, in an attempt to put transparency at the heart of his bid.

He repeatedly promised to do so in recent months, and faced continued pressure to release the documents when it emerged Tory former minister Nadhim Zahawi settled an estimated £4.7m bill with HMRC while he was chancellor.

Mr Sunak’s family finances previously faced scrutiny while he was chancellor when the “non-dom” status of his wife Akshata Murty was revealed. The arrangement reportedly saved her millions while the cost of living soared.

Following the controversy, Ms Murty, the fashion designer billionaire’s daughter who married Mr Sunak in 2009, declared she would pay UK taxes on all her worldwide income.

Mr Sunak was already independently wealthy when he entered politics in his early 30s, with spells at investment bank Goldman Sachs and as a hedge fund manager under his belt. In his first speech as Prime Minister, he pledged “integrity, professionalism, and accountability at every level” in his Government.

Labour backbench MP Richard Burgon tweeted: “The PM is saving huge sums through a tax advantage where capital gains are taxed at lower rates than income. I’ve been campaigning to equalise these rates, which would raise £17 billion per year. No wonder the PM refuses to do it.”

Tax lawyer Dan Neidle said: “Most of the £400k tax bill comes from the blind fund, which doesn’t pay cash to him. So how does he pay the tax bill, given it’s so much more than he earns?”