Tax exodus begins

One in eight people registered in Britain as non-resident for tax purposes left the country in the last year for which HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has records.

The 12 per cent decrease during the year to April, 2009, demonstrates that tax-driven emigration is not just an option for companies like Wolseley, the FTSE-listed plumbing group that said this week it is leaving Britain for Switzerland and simpler, lower taxes. Accountants say the decline in non-resident numbers reflects HMRC’s tougher stance toward wealthy individuals and its campaign to raise revenues.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) defines non-resident taxpayers as individuals who spend less than 183 days in the UK during the tax year or whose visits to the UK do not average 91 days or more a tax year over a maximum of four years.

Richard Mannion, a director at accountants Smith & Williamson, said: “The statistics indicate that the number of UK taxpayers registering as non-resident fell from 148,000 in 2007/8 to 130,000 in 2008/9. But another way of looking at the same figures is to say that a total of 278,000 taxpayers left the UK in those two years, which seems a staggeringly high number.”

Emma Loveday, a partner at City lawyers Wedlake Bell, said: “These figures go to show that high net worth taxpayers are highly mobile. The Government can’t just relentlessly increase taxes on them and expect them to keep their money in the country.

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http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/ianmcowie/100007918/tax-exodus-begins/