Tax crackdowns means high net worth Brits continue to mull UK exit
UK millionaires continue to keep their options open with a high percentage having considered leaving the UK over high taxes, according to a survey, deepening fears that the government has relied too heavily on the wealthy to boost receipts and fund higher expenditure.
An in-house survey by the Wealth Club, which provides advice to rich investors, found that about 61 per cent of clients have considered leaving the country over over tax fears..
The research found that 16 per cent of the 341 members polled were “actively” considering leaving. The Wealth Club said its average respondent owned assets worth around £4.5m.
The findings add to growing fears that the UK could lose out on personal tax contributions by wealthy investors who are residents in the country as well as further cash injections supporting British industry.
It was revealed on Monday that Chris Rokos, the Eton-educated hedge fund billionaire, was leaving the UK for Greece.
He was the third largest taxpayer in The Sunday Times’ latest list of individuals or relatives who pay the most into the government’s coffers each year.
In response to his departure, a government spokesperson insisted that Chancellor John Healey had “made wealth creation one of his top priorities”
The spokesman added: “The UK is a highly attractive place to live and invest.
“The UK remains an attractive destination for talent and investment with a competitive and stable tax system, deep capital markets, world-class universities and a highly skilled workforce.”
Healey urged to ‘look again’ at recent tax rises
Economic researchers have widely linked the departures of the likes of Rokos, Goldman Sach executive Richard Gnodde, Aston Villa co-owner Nassef Sawiris and steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal to government policies targeting the rich.
This includes the end of the non-dom regime which offered some wealthy investors tax advantages as well as scrapping VAT relief for private schools and raising inheritance tax on inherited pension funds.
James Lawson, the chairman of the Adam Smith Institute, highlighted a recent report by the rightwing think tank that showed Britain had the lowest number of millionaires since 2008, with data suggesting there was just a “measly 442,000” living in the UK.
“The public need no convincing of the importance of retaining the nation’s wealthy,” Lawson said.
“If we want to attract and cultivate millionaires and billionaires, Britain must be unashamedly pro-wealth and pro-wealth creation.
“That means looking again at reforms to the non-dom system, cutting inheritance tax and capital gains tax as well as reducing the red tape clogging up business.”
A left-leaning think tank, the Institute for Public Policy Research, backed the re-introduction of an investor visa, which was scrapped by the Tories in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 over claims it was abused by oligarchs.
Over three dozen Labour MPs backed a motion last year demanding the introduction of a wealth tax, which would involve levying two per cent each year on assets worth more than £10m. Most tax researchers, including Tax Policy Associates’ Dan Neidle, have warned such a plan would raise no revenue and likely deter investment in the UK.