UK ‘s Reform party has teased out plans for a £250,000 one-off “landing fee” for a new ‘Britannia Card’ that will allow non-doms to qualify for potential tax exemptions.
Reform leader Nigel Farage has ‘announced’ plans to incentivise the return of non-doms to the UK while at the same bringing in a Robin Hood style payment to UK workers earning less than £23,000
The proposed move, which Farage said will be further revealed later this week, is a push to stem the growing exodus of high net worth individuals from the UK.
Speaking in central London today Farge said: “Many talented people are leaving and we want as many entrepreneurs, as many risk-takers, as many job creators, as many people paying lots of tax, as many people investing huge sums of money.” He said that the initial £250,000 payment would be “just the tip of the iceberg of what these people will pay if they come back” in stamp duty and VAT in the UK.
The policy would enable a Robin Hood-style tax-free payment to the lowest paid workers in the UK – directly to their bank accounts, via HMRC, Farage said.
For example 2.5m workers earning less than £23,000, who would be given £600 each – based on a calculation on 6,000 non-doms taking part in the scheme.
Victoria Price, Head of Private Capital at Alvarez & Marsal UK, has accused Farage of political theatre that ultimately “undersells” the UK and slammed the plans
“Reform UK’s proposal is political theatre dressed up as policy, said Price. “While headline-grabbing, the policy undersells the UK and it only holds water if there is genuine confidence that the regime would remain stable for the duration promised.
A one-off £250,000 fee may look like a large cheque, but it’s actually a lower cost than the £30,000 annual charge under the old rules. It’s unclear how this structure addresses the real issue: people are not just leaving because of tax status, and even more significantly it’s not just non-doms who are leaving.
“I’ve seen more UK-resident individuals moving their affairs offshore than non-doms. This policy feels like a reactive gesture, not a serious fix.”
