An IMGlobalWealth.news Report
Britain’s wealthy are delivering two rather different messages to the government. More than 100 UK-based millionaires, including Gary Lineker, Richard Curtis, Val McDermid and former City trader Gary Stevenson, have signed a letter urging the government to tax extreme wealth more heavily. “We can afford it,” they argue, insisting that the burden should fall on assets rather than already stretched working incomes.
Yet many of their affluent peers appear to be reaching another conclusion: Britain is no longer worth the bill.
“Britain can tax the rich more heavily. But first it must decide how many of them it can afford to lose”
The latest country-by-country forecast from Henley & Partners estimated that the UK would record a net loss of 16,500 dollar millionaires in 2025, taking with them an estimated $91.8bn in investable wealth.
Before the Brexit referendum, Britain generally attracted more millionaires than it lost. It has since become the world’s most conspicuous exporter of them.
The favoured destinations reveal what Britain is competing against. The United Arab Emirates was forecast to gain 9,800 millionaires, America 7,500, Italy 3,600 and Switzerland 3,000. Dubai offers light taxation and increasingly sophisticated financial services.
America supplies scale and stronger investment returns. Switzerland sells stability. Italy combines European access with a fixed-tax regime designed for wealthy newcomers.
As IMGW.news recently reported, Iceland’s first billionaire, Thor Björgólfsson, shifted his tax residence from Britain to Italy and moved his investment company, Novator, from London to Zurich.
The corporate relocation reportedly cost the British capital 20 jobs. It was a reminder that when a billionaire leaves, advisers, investment activity and employment may follow.
Britain abolished its non-domicile remittance system in April 2025, replacing it with a residence-based regime that shelters eligible foreign income and gains for only the first four years of residence. Longer-established international residents are generally exposed to British taxation on worldwide income and gains.
This does not prove that every tax rise drives away capital. Many wealthy Britons are less mobile than their accountants suggest, and some plainly want to contribute more. The problem is one of selection.
Those signing patriotic letters tend to remain. Those quietly changing residence take their taxable wealth, companies and spending with them.
Britain can tax the rich more heavily. But first it must decide how many of them it can afford to lose.
