Rishi Sunak tax returns: Prime Minister publishes long-awaited personal tax records - what did they reveal?

The Prime Minister published the tax records after vowing to be transparent over his finances during the Tory leadership election last year
Rishi Sunak has published his personal tax records. (Credit: Getty Images)Rishi Sunak has published his personal tax records. (Credit: Getty Images)
Rishi Sunak has published his personal tax records. (Credit: Getty Images)

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has finally released his tax records, showing that he paid more than £432,000 in tax last year.

The Tory leader vowed during the party leadership election last year that he would be transparent about his finances if he were to become the next leader. The tax document, which was published on the government website, takes into account his income collected during his time as Chancellor of the Exchequer under Boris Johnson's leadership, and later as Prime Minister himself.

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During 2021/22, a total of £432,493 was paid towards tax. This included £325,826 towards capital gains of £1.6million - the document described this capital gain as coming from a single US-based investment fund.

Prior to the financial year of 2021/22, he paid £393,217 in 2020/21 and £227,350 in 2019/20. While more detail - including his total governmental income of £329,561 - was revealed in the document, the PM has not yet released a tax return from his US-based incomes as of yet.

The tax amounts seen in the document has led to criticism from some political opponents. Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner said: “After much delay, it is right that the Prime Minister has published his tax returns. They reveal a tax system designed by successive Tory governments in which the Prime Minister pays a far lower tax rate than working people who face the highest tax burden in 70 years."

Although Sunak has delivered on his promise to release his tax records, the Liberal Democrats accused the Prime Minster of "sneaking out" the information during a busy day in UK politics. The tax records were released as MPs voted on the Windsor Framework and Boris Johnson made a highly-anticipated appearance in front of the Privileges Committee over claims he purposefully misled MPs over the Partygate scandal.

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The Lib Dem's Cabinet Office spokesperson Christine Jardine said: “After months of promising to release his tax returns, I don’t understand why Rishi Sunak has snuck them out whilst the world is distracted with Boris Johnson’s partygate grilling. People will be much more concerned today about the staggering tax hikes Rishi Sunak has imposed on them.

"The blunt truth is that we should judge politicians on their actions, not their wealth. Rishi Sunak will be remembered as the tax-hiking Prime Minister and no Boris Johnson distraction will stop that.”

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has also released his tax returns. Starmer made capital gains of £85,466 in 2021/22, paying a total of £23,930.

He said that the amount shown in the document reflects his share of capital gains from the sale of a house that he had helped his sister to buy. The document also revealed that his total wage for being both an MP and the Leader of the Opposition was £126,154

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