“A lot of rich people are leaving the country as a result of what they anticipate in the Budget,” a top businessman has warned.
Rachel Reeves’s Budget is alarming Britain’s wealthy (Image: Getty)
Rachel Reeves’s non-dom crackdown is driving wealthy people out of the UK, a leading businessman has warned.
David Sullivan, who co-owns West Ham United Football Club, said he personally knows people who have moved to Monaco and Dubai.
He added “a lot of rich people are leaving the country as a result of what they anticipate in the Budget”.
Non-doms residing in the UK are currently not required to pay local taxes on overseas earnings for up to 15 years.
The Labour leadership is alarming business leaders (Image: Getty)
But the non-dom status is set to be phased out from April 2025.
New arrivals to the UK will then face a four-year grace period before beginning to pay taxes. Non-doms already in the UK would have a two-year transition period.
Mr Sullivan said he is selling his London mansion £10 million less than its asking price.
He admitted: “I’m selling it at a loss now, but you have to be realistic.
“Interest rates are high, they’re coming down but not much,” Sullivan said. “I also think what the government is doing to the non-doms isn’t very nice, and a lot of rich people are leaving the country as a result of what they anticipate in the budget. Three or four of my friends already have gone to Monaco or Dubai.”
Under the proposed changes, nom-doms would also be made liable for inheritance tax 10 years after they leave the UK.
The crackdown, combined with fears of increases in capital gains and inheritance tax at the upcoming Budget, has been blamed for driving the super-rich out of Britain.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer denied that his messaging on the economy has put off investment in the country.
He told journalists: “Yes, we’ve got to take difficult decisions in the Budget in relation to the missing money from the last government really tough decisions, like for example, the winter fuel payment, to stabilise the economy.
“Because I’m absolutely convinced that only by stabilising the economy, can we attract the investment that we need in relation to your challenge.”
He added: “In relation to your challenge, as it were, that aren’t we putting off investment, quite the opposite.”
Chancellor Rachel Reeves insisted the Government will prioritise and increase investment in major projects at this month’s Budget.
After weeks of hints about the chancellor changing her self-imposed borrowing rules to allow significantly more investment in major projects, Ms Reeves has given her strongest indication yet of a significant increase to levels of state investment.
Ms Reeves said the previous government had been “cutting back on investment at exactly the time we needed to be increasing investment in our economy”.
“I’m not going to make those mistakes,” she said.
The Government has pledged nearly £22 billion funding to develop projects to capture and store carbon emissions from energy, industry and hydrogen production.
It is hoped the funding for two “carbon capture clusters” in Merseyside and Teesside, promised over the next 25 years, will create and support thousands of jobs, draw in private investment and help the UK meet climate goals.
