Confused voter says he won't vote Labour in bizarre non-dom condom tax mix-up

A voter has hilariously said he would not vote Labour after incorrectly believing the party would tax condoms instead of non-doms.

Canvassing for support during an election can be a daunting task with parties battling for every vote. In many cases residents are not interested in voting for a particular candidate, even giving canvassers are earful as to why they won't.

But Labour candidate Karl Turner revealed a voter had a bizarre reason why he would not vote for the party. Mr Turner, who is standing in East Hull, said a odd misunderstanding led the voter to believe Labour would tax condoms.

A photo of Karl Turner

"We met a guy who said he was going to vote Labour but wouldn't now because he had just heard that we were taxing condoms," he told The Guardian.

"I said, 'condoms?' 'Yeah,' he said: 'I just heard that [pointing to the TV] that you are taxing condoms, and I'm not having it. You're not getting my vote. It was Terence [Turner's parliamentary assistant] here who worked it out.

"'We're taxing non-doms, not condoms,' I said. 'Oh,' he said. 'Like the prime minister's wife? Ah. He calls out: 'Margaret: they're taxing non-doms, not condoms.'"

While the misunderstanding was cleared up, not everyone will know what a non-dom or non-dom status is.

What is non-dom status?

UK residents who have a permanent home outside the UK may not have to pay tax on foreign incoming are known as non-domiciled (non-doms).

Currently, non-doms must pay wither £30,000 if they have been in the UK for at least seven of the last nine tax years. Alternatively, they must pay £60,000 for at least 12 of the previous 14 tax years.

What is Labour's non-dom plan?

A photo of Akshata Murty

Labour has pledged to crackdown on loopholes around the UK's non-domiciled. Non-dom rules allow wealthy people in the UK to pay little to no tax on their overseas income. While Tory Chancellor Jeremy Hunt stole Labour's policy, he insisted the 2.7billion in extra revenue would go towards a national insurance cut.

Labour insisted it would raise £2.6billion over the course of the next Parliament by closing the loopholes in the Tories' non-dom plan. Money raised would instead go toward the NHS and schools .

The status of non-doms became highly charged when it emerged Rishi Sunak's wife Akshata Murty - an Indian national - did not pay tax on her substantial foreign earnings due to her non-domicile status. Then-Chancellor Mr Sunak defended his wife amid claims she avoided paying tax on millions of pounds earned overseas.

In an April 2022 interview with The Sun, Mr Sunak said reports about her non-dom status were attempts "to smear my wife to get at me." Later that month Ms Murty announced she had given up her non-dom tax status

She said: "“It has become clear that many do not feel it is compatible with my husband’s role as Chancellor. I understand and appreciate the British sense of fairness and I do not wish my tax status to be a distraction for my husband or to affect my family.”