"Rishi Sunak may have released tax information - but he didn't tell us everything"

The prime minister didn't release his tax returns, he released a summary of his tax returns instead - and it really wasn't not enough

There's a lot we don't know about Rishi Sunak's tax affairs (

Image: PA)

Rishi Sunak has finally released information about his tax affairs. But he did not release his tax returns, which he promised to do.

What he did was instead publish a summary of his tax returns. And that really wasn't enough.

By releasing his tax returns in this way, there is a lot we don't know about Sunak's tax affairs that we should know.

We don't know what stocks and other investments he owns. We therefore do not know if there is a conflict of interest between the fact that he owns them and that he is Prime Minister. Since this is a major reason for requesting tax returns, it's a big deal.

What we also don't know is how much of his very large income was paid to him by so-called "blind administrators" who are supposed to manage his investments while he is prime minister. What we have to assume, however, is that part of it is paid to him because his salary as prime minister was nowhere near enough to cover his tax bill.

What we also don't know is the value of the investments he sold each year, and if anything replaced them. Again, given that the primary reason for having this data is to identify conflicts of interest, this is nonsense.

All of this means Sunak broke his promise. He released his tax return. He proved that he had a huge income and was a very wealthy man. He clarified that inflation is not a concern for him. He also made it clear that he was not in favor of paying taxes. But when it comes to the serious stuff, he left us in the dark, and that's not what we wanted.

What we wanted to know is that Sunak's business does not compromise his position as Prime Minister and on this vital question, we got no answer. He should be told to redo this disclosure and come back with the correct answers. Right now it has failed the set of tests it was given.

*Richard Murphy is Professor of Accounting Practice at Sheffield University Management School