A Whitehall inquiry has been launched following a leak of Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s wife’s tax status.

The inquiry is seeking to find who leaked the information to the media.

Akshata Murty dramatically announced on Friday that she would pay UK taxes on her worldwide income after the disclosure she was “non-domiciled” in the UK for tax purposes sparked a political debate.

Labour accused Sunak of hypocrisy, saying his family had potentially saved tens of millions of pounds as a result of the arrangement while he was putting up taxes for millions of others.

According to the PA news agency, an investigation is now underway to find out how the information was passed on to The Independent online newspaper.

According to The Sunday Times, Sunak’s team believe it is a Labour supporting official dubbed “red coat”.

The paper quoted a senior Government official as saying: “There’s going to be a full Cabinet Office and HM Treasury investigation into who had that information and if anyone has requested that information.

“Divulging the tax status of a private individual is a criminal offence.”

Some experts have estimated that Murty, who remains an Indian citizen, has saved £20 million as a result of not having to pay taxes on her shares in Infosys, an Indian IT company founded by her father.

The disclosure saw Sunak’s approval ratings take another hit after he was criticised for not doing enough to support families struggling with the cost-of-living crisis in last month’s Spring Statement.

A poll by Opinium Research found his approval rating dropped by three points since late March to 28%, while his disapproval rating rose by eight points to 43% giving him a net rating of -15 (minus 15).