The UK is entering a tricky phase in its relationship with global wealth. Tax changes may seem like a domestic affair, but their impact is international — and profound.
Henley & Partners’ 2025 Private Wealth Migration Report estimates the UK will lose 16,500 wealthy individuals this year, up from 10,800 in 2024. This is the cumulative result of near-catastrophic tax policy decisions at government level.
Each departure often represents a founder, investor or entrepreneur — someone who creates jobs, builds businesses and contributes materially to public revenues.
We risk becoming a cautionary tale: a place where global wealth once came to grow but no longer stays
The UK is losing wealth creators at an alarming rate. I see it daily, and so do colleagues across the wealth planning industry.
A key driver is the abolition of the non-domicile and remittance basis tax regime. Long a cornerstone of the UK’s international competitiveness, the system sent a clear message: the UK is open for business.
It allowed the country to attract talent and capital from across the world by offering favourable tax treatment on foreign income for a fixed period.
From April 2025 new rules will see individuals taxed on worldwide income and gains after just four years of UK residency, and liable for UK inheritance tax on global assets after 10 years.
They will also potentially remain within the UK IHT net for 10 years after leaving.
The message to globally mobile individuals is stark: invest elsewhere. The 2022 closure of the investor visa only compounds that message.
The consequences are becoming visible. London’s prime property market has cooled — sales dropped by 36 per cent in May according to LonRes.
Oxford Science Enterprises, a leading start-up incubator, warns that international investors are already turning away. There simply is not enough domestic capital to fill the gap.
The Henley report estimates that the wealth lost through millionaire emigration in 2024 alone was £43.6bn.
At Weightmans, we have advised on clients with a combined £5bn net worth who exited the UK last year — and this is likely to increase.
The uncertainty is being fuelled further by speculation around a wealth tax.
While no such policy exists yet, perception often matters as much as policy.
In the minds of many investors, the UK is increasingly seen as a hostile environment for success.
To be clear — this is not a call for a race to the bottom.
Tax fairness is important and public services must be properly funded. But we must also consider the global context.
Jurisdictions like Singapore, Dubai and even EU states are actively courting the same people and capital the UK is pushing away.
Ironically, the 2025 reforms may encourage short-term, fiscally nomadic behaviour.
New rules allow those who have not been UK tax resident in the past 10 years to enjoy four years of UK residency without paying tax on foreign income.
This is likely to attract temporary residents who do not invest, contribute or stay — a bizarre and counter-productive outcome.
It is also misleading to say these policies only affect the ultra-wealthy.
When wealth creators leave, they take with them their businesses, their philanthropy, their networks and their appetite for innovation.
The impact ripples through jobs, tax receipts and long-term growth.
The contradiction is striking. Britain promotes itself as a global hub for innovation and entrepreneurship. The Office for Investment claims the UK is “the best place in the world for international investors”. But tax and residency policies send a different message.
A smarter approach would be to reform, not remove, structures like the non-dom regime.
If the UK wants to move towards a fully residency-based system then it must find ways to remain competitive — by encouraging longer-term settlement, investment and business creation.
It is critical to recognise that internationally mobile individuals do not owe the UK a tax obligation simply by choosing to live here.
If they bring capital, create jobs and contribute to the economy, we should be finding ways to welcome them — not deter them with a punitive worldwide tax liability.
Any future discussion of a wealth tax must also be grounded in practicality.
If implemented without nuance, it will probably drive out the very capital it seeks to capture.
Indeed, it is not only international families leaving — we are increasingly advising UK-born individuals who are now looking overseas.
There are signs the government understands the risks. Recent hints at revisiting the IHT treatment for former non-doms suggest a recognition that the current approach may have gone too far.
But even positive recalibrations may come too late — confidence, once lost, is hard to rebuild.
What is more, the mere fact of yet another change to the tax system may itself be damaging.
Investors and business leaders crave stability and predictability — not a constant game of policy roulette.
If the UK wants to remain a magnet for investment and innovation, it must align its tax policies with that ambition.
That means creating an environment where success is encouraged, not punished — and where fairness and competitiveness are not mutually exclusive.
Otherwise, we risk becoming a cautionary tale: a place where global wealth once came to grow but no longer stays.
Jon Shankland is partner and head of international private wealth at Weightmans