Who cares if old millionaires leave the country? It's the smart young people we should worry about
The impact may be sorely felt by the estate agents and restaurants that line the streets of central London. But by the Treasury? Probably not.
Most of these people will have structured their affairs to be extremely tax-efficient, and shielded from the whims of an anti-wealth government.
These aren't the people we should be worrying about. Instead, we should be concerned by the trail of young, highly educated young people leaving the UK because they have no faith in a future on these shores.
They are moving to start their lives somewhere else – taking with them not only their taxes, but their everyday spending, property deposits and investment pots – not to mention lucrative skills and ideas.
They're not currently super wealthy, but they could be in the future. They are ambitious 'Henrys' – high earners not rich yet – who are ready to start businesses and create wealth.
There is no dataset to show the movement of these people, and it's worrying that they are essentially disappearing without a trace. We'll only see it in fewer home-grown millionaires making money and paying taxes, and a drop in the number of new companies – which create their own ecosystems of employment, wealth generation and tax receipts.
Some 28pc of British people aged 18-30 are either actively planning or have seriously considered emigrating, according to a survey by the Adam Smith Institute, a think tank.
Anecdotally, they started leaving a while ago – to Spain on a digital nomad visa in search of a lower cost of living, or the Netherlands, using a skilled worker visa and lured by huge tax breaks. Here, staff recruited from abroad receive a tax-free allowance worth 27pc of their salary every year for five years. Why can't we treat our home-grown talent to the same incentives?
One 20-something tech worker – a friend of a friend – who moved to Amsterdam earns less than he did in the UK, but makes a huge tax saving and, crucially for him, has a far better quality of life than he did in London. His plan is to start a business, qualify for Dutch citizenship and live his life (and spend his money) in the EU.
Another earns around £100k in Barcelona but pays just €500 (£432) rent a month, saving the rest in a quest to retire early (and not in Britain). And who can blame a couple moving to Dubai to see if they can double their salaries in Britain and actually live a little?
High taxes – not just on income but on property purchases and inherited wealth – are driving out many of these escapees. The tax system kills ambition and penalises aspiration, particularly for high-earning families with small children, who we should want to build their homes in this country.
But worse than the tax bills is the anti-rich rhetoric – the threat that everything you work for could one day be taken away from you, and the implication that wealth is dirty, and success is shameful. Who would want to stick around in a country that punishes people who work hard, save diligently and build anew?
This isn't helped by the growing feeling that nothing works here. A housing market that largely prohibits people from buying near where they work, especially in London and high-tech areas like Oxford and Cambridge. Terrible commutes, insane childcare costs and no doctors' appointments – all topped off by sluggish wage growth.
Even if these escapees earn less than they do in Britain, rents and mortgage rates are often much lower, and a better quality of life is simply more attainable.
Let's stop worrying about the odd multi-millionaire packing up and following his offshore wealth, and focus more on the future talent pouring away from Britain.
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