Speech by Shadow Chancellor George Osborne
The Shadow Chancellor George Osborne has been grabbing the headlines this week with his announcement at the Tory Party Conference that under a Conservative Government the Inheritance threshold would be lifted to £1m. And if that's not enough Stamp duty would be reduced to nil on purchases of less than £250,000.
What is somewhat surprising is the means by which he intends to fund this tax break - as a flat rate annual levy of £25,000 applied to individuals residing in the UK who claim non-UK domiciled status. On Monday Mr Osborne announced "There are currently a number of people living in Britain who register for non-domiciled tax status offshore. It is a good thing for Britain that they live here and bring their talent and their investment to our economy. I make this promise: I am not going to tax all that income as Gordon Brown has persistently threatened to do. But in return for that promise, and the certainty it brings, we will charge a flat annual levy of around £25,000 for those who register for non-domicile status".
The suggestion here is that in exchange for £25,000 per annum an individual would enjoy immunity from investigations by H.M. Revenue & Customs into their offshore income streams and Capital Gains. While this may seem like a gift to the super wealthy (who probably pay as much, if not more, to their tax advisors to protect their incomes) it could leave a number of middle income non-domiciled individuals in a much disadvantaged position when one considers that foreign income would have to exceed £62,500 to make paying the levy a viable financial option.
While the Shadow Chancellor's statement can only be viewed as an aspiration at this point it would appear, at face value, that under a Conservative Government Non-UK Domicile status is destined to become the preserve of the elite.
What is somewhat surprising is the means by which he intends to fund this tax break - as a flat rate annual levy of £25,000 applied to individuals residing in the UK who claim non-UK domiciled status. On Monday Mr Osborne announced "There are currently a number of people living in Britain who register for non-domiciled tax status offshore. It is a good thing for Britain that they live here and bring their talent and their investment to our economy. I make this promise: I am not going to tax all that income as Gordon Brown has persistently threatened to do. But in return for that promise, and the certainty it brings, we will charge a flat annual levy of around £25,000 for those who register for non-domicile status".
The suggestion here is that in exchange for £25,000 per annum an individual would enjoy immunity from investigations by H.M. Revenue & Customs into their offshore income streams and Capital Gains. While this may seem like a gift to the super wealthy (who probably pay as much, if not more, to their tax advisors to protect their incomes) it could leave a number of middle income non-domiciled individuals in a much disadvantaged position when one considers that foreign income would have to exceed £62,500 to make paying the levy a viable financial option.
While the Shadow Chancellor's statement can only be viewed as an aspiration at this point it would appear, at face value, that under a Conservative Government Non-UK Domicile status is destined to become the preserve of the elite.
Labels: Written by Mark Busby
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