Rishi Sunak earned £2.2m last year, tax records show

Rishi Sunak earned £2.2m last year, tax records show
News Desk

By News Desk


Published: 10/02/2024

Rishi Sunak paid UK tax of £508,308 on earnings of just over £2.2m last year, according to his latest tax summary.

The document, published by Downing Street, showed the prime minister paid £163,364 in tax on a total income of £432,884.

He also paid £359,240 in tax on around £1.8m in capital gains from a US-based investment fund.

This is the second time he has published details of his earnings since entering No 10 in October 2022.

The first publication, in March last year, covered the previous three financial years, including before he became prime minister.

It follows a commitment he made during his unsuccessful Tory leadership campaign in summer 2022.

Mr Sunak's latest tax summary shows both his earnings and total tax paid have increased from last year, when he paid £432,493 in UK tax on total earnings of around £1.9m.

Mr Sunak, who worked in finance before entering politics, is thought to be one of the richest MPs in Parliament.

His personal wealth has increasingly been used as an attack line by opposition parties, a trend that could increase during an election year.

In such a swipe last month, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said recent mortgage rises "might not sound much" to the prime minister, but that "most people don't have that sort of money".

Mr Sunak hit back by accusing the Labour leader of resorting to "the politics of envy".

Labour also branded the prime minister "out of touch" earlier this week, after he appeared to take a £1,000 bet over his Rwanda policy during an interview with TV presenter Piers Morgan.

Blind managed fund

The latest summary of Mr Sunak's income shows he earned a ministerial salary of £55,358 alongside his MP's salary of £84,119.

These figures are dwarfed by investment income of £289,422 and capital gains of just under £1.8m from a "blind managed" US-based fund.

This arrangement, where management of assets is placed in the hands of advisers in a bid to avoid conflicts of interest, is used by a number of other government ministers.

The return also shows he earned £3,985 in interest on bank savings, up from £293 the year before.

Separately, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has published his own tax summary, showing he paid £117,418 in UK tax on total income of £416,605, including £27,370 in rental income from a "commercial investment property".

Mr Sunak and his wife, Akshata Murty, whose father co-founded Indian IT giant Infosys, have a combined wealth estimated at about £529m, according to 2023's Sunday Times Rich List.

Former lawyer Sir Keir published his own tax summary last year, revealing he had paid £118,580 in UK tax on total earnings of £359,720 in the two financial years since he became Labour leader in 2020.

This included more than £21,000 for legal services in 2020, before he became Labour leader, and £85,000 in capital gains in 2022 from the sale of a home he had bought with his sister.

It is understood Labour will publish Sir Keir's latest summary, covering the last financial year, in the coming days.

David Cameron became the first UK prime minister to publish a summary of his tax returns in 2016, after revelations about his late father's offshore fund.

Theresa May released her tax return during her campaign to be Tory leader in 2016, but did not do so when she was prime minister.

The two prime ministers who preceded Mr Sunak - Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, who held the post for less than two months - did not publish their tax returns.

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