Thread by @PickardJE

it’s always intriguing when a cabinet minister stonewalls for several days over legitimate questions of public interest: on this occasion it’s health secretary Sajid Javid

- thread

on Sunday @ShippersUnbound had the excellent scoop that Javid used to be a non-dom, following on the heels of Rishi Sunak’s wife Akshata Murty

“Javid said he was entitled to this because his father was born in Pakistan.”

thetimes.co.uk/article/sajid-…

At the weekend Javid issued a statement to Sunday Times pointing out that he was an international banker working all around the world

- Javid gave up non dom status before he entered Parliament in 2010

- the problem is that tax experts have told the @FT the fact the UK health secretary was an international banker and his father was born in Pakistan would not be enough to entitle him to the perk

Tax experts said that to have maintained non-dom status Javid would have had to assert he did not intend to live in UK indefinitely and furthermore demonstrate to HMRC that he had stronger “personal links” to the country of his chosen domicile than he did to the UK

“It’s not entirely clear the basis of his non-domicile status,” said Dan Neidle, former head of tax at Clifford Chance, the law firm. “On the face of it, it seems a bit racier than Mrs Sunak’s claim.”

ft.com/content/647eb1…

usually when we have these kind of questions a spokesperson sets out an alternative case, provides useful information, gives some guidance, or a quote, or even a “no comment”

- but Javid’s media special adviser has ignored 10 WhatsApp messages (all read) & 6 calls

other tax experts expressed scepticism to our tax correspondent @EmmaAgyemang

Nimesh Shah, ceo at Blick Rothenberg said there was “a question mark” over Javid’s non-dom status. “He was born here, he’s lived here most of his life.”

another tax expert told us: “It is an absolute joke that Sajid Javid claimed non-dom status”

here is the current HMRC advice on whether an individual could or should be able to get non dom status, it’s quite instructive

read our full @FT story here

ft.com/content/647eb1…

the thing about Sunak’s wife is that she is an Indian citizen and therefore has a more clear cut right to be a non dom

now @wesstreeting has written to Javid with further list of questions

- Streeting said the questions the minister needed to address included how many years he was not domiciled in the UK, where instead he claimed to be domiciled and on what basis

- Streeting asked where Javid’s offshore trust was based and what cash, investments and property it held

- he also asked if Javid took part in Deutsche Bank offshore bonus scheme that ran in 2003 and 2004 and was later investigated by HMRC and found to constitute tax avoidance

one ally of the health secretary said Javid has nothing further to add:

“Sajid has been very open and transparent about his previous tax statuses in the UK and when he lived abroad.”

ft.com/content/e7a7d7…

the issue has come up in the Commons again today, not sure how Javid will dodge this in future broadcast interviews

https://twitter.com/paulwaugh/status/1516423667118448649

some new unanswered questions from @PrivateEyeNews