The arguments against changing non-Dom taxation lack any moral dimension. It is simply unfair that these people are paying a lower rate of tax than people of equal wealth and/or income who are domiciled here.
I also find it obtuse that at a time when the right talks about ‘native British’ being crowded out by non-white Brits, they are defending the rights of people to swan over here and pay less tax just because they are rich.
The presence of non-Doms who are only here because of tax arrangements is corrosive to our society and social cohesion. If they have so little attachment to the country that they will leave rather than pay their fair share of tax, good riddance. I’ll happily drive them to the airport.
Personally I will not miss them, but the Treasury is starting to worry I suspect. Many of them pay a lot of tax if you count in the VAT on those overpriced Mayfair restaurants etc. Yes I regret the fact that finding a flat in Mayfair or Belgravia, easy when I first moved to London in 1965, is now no longer an option for most young people, but it is a small price to pay for the non-dom taxes paying for many of the social services. If we follow your advice I fear there will be many more announcements of PIP payments having to be cut, which doesn't seem to have been very popular.
You may be right that non doms make no net worthwhile contribution. However I would have more sympathy with your article if it wasn’t written with a sense of vitriol. The fact Rachel Reeves, presumably not someone automatically sympathetic to non doms, is apparently reconsidering suggests that may be the UK is a net loser.
Colbert a very clever French Finance Minister in the 19th century said the art of taxation is to pluck a goose’s feathers in a way that gets the max no of feathers with the minimum of hissing and reaction.
Rishi Sunak and Savid Javid were both non-doms when they made their millions so there must be part of the system that allows you to live in Dubai and trade in New York and London. The idea of someone earning £600,000 and paying £245,000 in tax ignores the 90,000 tax accountants we have in the UK, dedicated to helping the rich avoid as much tax as possible, while earning a good living, minimum tax paid, themselves. The rich, and I confess to have never met any, must have a terrible problem parking their assets where they are safe. I wish the Western World had solved the problem of taxation so that rich and poor were never hungry, homeless, or in any danger of becoming destitute.
I agree that, if the only non-doms leaving in significant numbers are those escaping UK IHT, you would have a point. But is that really the case? Seems more like a hopeful wish in this Call.
The arguments against changing non-Dom taxation lack any moral dimension. It is simply unfair that these people are paying a lower rate of tax than people of equal wealth and/or income who are domiciled here.
I also find it obtuse that at a time when the right talks about ‘native British’ being crowded out by non-white Brits, they are defending the rights of people to swan over here and pay less tax just because they are rich.
The presence of non-Doms who are only here because of tax arrangements is corrosive to our society and social cohesion. If they have so little attachment to the country that they will leave rather than pay their fair share of tax, good riddance. I’ll happily drive them to the airport.
Personally I will not miss them, but the Treasury is starting to worry I suspect. Many of them pay a lot of tax if you count in the VAT on those overpriced Mayfair restaurants etc. Yes I regret the fact that finding a flat in Mayfair or Belgravia, easy when I first moved to London in 1965, is now no longer an option for most young people, but it is a small price to pay for the non-dom taxes paying for many of the social services. If we follow your advice I fear there will be many more announcements of PIP payments having to be cut, which doesn't seem to have been very popular.
You may be right that non doms make no net worthwhile contribution. However I would have more sympathy with your article if it wasn’t written with a sense of vitriol. The fact Rachel Reeves, presumably not someone automatically sympathetic to non doms, is apparently reconsidering suggests that may be the UK is a net loser.
Colbert a very clever French Finance Minister in the 19th century said the art of taxation is to pluck a goose’s feathers in a way that gets the max no of feathers with the minimum of hissing and reaction.
And the moderate Paul Johnson has said governments have never accepted that there is no good way to tax the very wealthy disproportionately.
Thanks Will. Really brilliant - and clear to read and understand... And next, roll on a wealth tax
Good article
Important dig below the noise article. Let's hope it is read by those who need to read it.
Rishi Sunak and Savid Javid were both non-doms when they made their millions so there must be part of the system that allows you to live in Dubai and trade in New York and London. The idea of someone earning £600,000 and paying £245,000 in tax ignores the 90,000 tax accountants we have in the UK, dedicated to helping the rich avoid as much tax as possible, while earning a good living, minimum tax paid, themselves. The rich, and I confess to have never met any, must have a terrible problem parking their assets where they are safe. I wish the Western World had solved the problem of taxation so that rich and poor were never hungry, homeless, or in any danger of becoming destitute.
I agree that, if the only non-doms leaving in significant numbers are those escaping UK IHT, you would have a point. But is that really the case? Seems more like a hopeful wish in this Call.