Over 6,000 millionaires are expected to leave the UK for the European Union by the end of December to avoid a Labour tax grab, according to a report by investment advisory firm Henley & Partners.
The study found that 68pc of Britain’s wealthiest residents who plan to leave the country will vacate to Europe, with the most favoured destinations being Italy, Malta, Greece, Portugal, Switzerland, Monaco, Cyprus, France, Spain, and the Netherlands.
Critics of the proposed changes in taxation arising from the upcoming budget believe any exodus will have a knock-on effect financially on the economy, as businesses the wealthiest UK people start have a significant positive spillover effect on the middle class as they create large numbers of well-paying jobs in their base country.
The UK will also lose more than 800 wealthy individuals to the United Arab Emirates, 720 to the United States, 300 to Australasian countries, and 250 to Caribbean nations. Rachel Reeves has vowed to end the UK’s non-domiciled tax regime after Jeremy Hunt, the former chancellor, increased tax on non-doms earlier in the year. Scrapping the status would cost the country £6.5bn and wipe out 23,000 jobs over the next six years due to lost investment.
Fears that inheritance and capital gains tax will rise at the Budget next Wednesday have caused even more wealthy Britons to rush for the door, according to Henley & Partners. The Chancellor has said she must raise taxes to fill a fiscal “black hole” of up to £40bn at Labour’s first major fiscal statement next month.
A spokesperson for the Government emphasized the need to reevaluate tax : “We are addressing unfairness in the tax system so we can raise the revenue to rebuild our public services. That is why we are removing the outdated non-dom tax regime and replacing it with a new internationally competitive residence-based regime focused on attracting the best talent and investment to the UK.”
