Beautiful Virgin Islands

Sunday, Jul 27, 2025

Sajid Javid: 'Question marks' over health secretary's claim to non-dom status, tax experts say

Sajid Javid: 'Question marks' over health secretary's claim to non-dom status, tax experts say

The health secretary reportedly held non-domiciled status for six years between 2000 and 2006, which would mean not having to pay UK taxes on his overseas earnings.

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 would have had non-dom status when he was born.

"For most immigrants in this country, there's a point where it becomes clear they're not going back, and at that point they acquire a domicile of choice which is the UK," he told Sky News.

He said it does not seem "particularly credible" that Mr Sajid was able to assert that his long-term future was not in the UK given that he spent most of his life in the country.

"It looks like quite a surprising and racy position," he said, adding that "we can't be sure without seeing the facts".

Nimesh Shah, chief executive at Blick Rothenberg, an accountancy firm, also questioned whether Mr Javid had sufficient personal links to another country to justify the claim.

"This is where my scepticism comes in: Sajid Javid has lived in the UK pretty much all his life," he said.

In 2006, Mr Javid moved to Singapore and was therefore no longer a tax resident, which changed when he returned in 2009, saying he "proactively chose" to give up his non-dom status.

Mr Shah pointed out that in 2009 the government introduced a fee of £30,000 for those claiming non-dom tax status, which had previously been free.

"It seems overly coincidental that he decided to declare himself as now UK domiciled in the same year, or around the same time that the government introduced this flat charge," he said, adding that there seemed to be a "little chink" in how Mr Javid was framing the decision.

Mr McCann said that, from his perspective as a former HMRC inspector, Mr Sajid's case appeared to be "borderline" by today's standards, but at the time there was less scrutiny of such claims.

He thinks that the health secretary could have used his time spent in Singapore and travelling in the US as an investment banker to express "uncertainty" about where he would spend the rest of his life, and that could have been sufficient.

Mr Javid declined to comment.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Deputy attorney general's second day of meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell has concluded
Controversial March in Switzerland Features Men Dressed in Nazi Uniforms
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
×