Are the rich leaving the UK due to high taxes? Where the wealthy are going

The Autumn Budget doesn’t appear to have done much to stop wealthy people contemplating leaving the UK.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves unveiled a series of tax hikes in her Autumn Budget in November 2025 that will hit people’s hard-earned wealth including a new mansion tax as well as higher income tax rates on property and dividends.

It comes amid reports of a wealth exodus from the UK and the latest fiscal update doesn’t seem to have lightened the mood.

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A YouGov poll commissioned by Tideway Wealth since the Budget found more than one-in-10 UK adults are planning to move abroad. The study of 2,178 adults in the UK also revealed 4% were aiming to leave within the next five years.

Respondents cited the cost-of-living crisis, wage stagnation, economic uncertainty, immigration and rising taxes.

Tideway founder James Baxter said: “This is a pretty astonishing result.

“But it reflects what we are seeing when talking to clients and prospects, especially in the higher earner category.”

Even before the Budget, small business leaders were contemplating leaving the UK because of the current tax burden.

One in eight (12%) owners of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) – equivalent to around 680,000 businesses – said they were actively planning to relocate themselves, their businesses, or both due to how much they are taxed in the UK, according to a poll by Rathbones, a wealth and asset manager.

Among those business owners planning to exit, a third (33%) said they will move both themselves and their company abroad, with another third looking to move as individuals, while the rest plan only to move their businesses.

They may follow in the footsteps of billionaires including steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal and shipping magnate John Fredriksen who recently swapped the UK for Dubai. Both have cited the Labour government’s tax reforms on wealth as key motives.

Ireland – where, at 12.5%, the standard corporate tax rate for trading income is significantly lower than the 19%-25% in the UK – was rated as the top destination by more than a quarter (26%) of those considering exiting Britain. This was ahead of 21% choosing Dubai and 18% selecting the US.

Ade Babatunde, senior financial planning director at Rathbones, said: “SMEs are the backbone of the UK economy, and the fact that many are actively planning to leave the country – whether personally, by relocating their businesses abroad, or both – due to the current tax burden is deeply concerning for the government’s ambition to get Britain growing.

“Their departure would mean the loss of valuable tax revenue and much-needed employment opportunities.”

The UK appears to be becoming a more hostile tax environment for the rich more broadly. As many as 1,800 non-doms – who tend to be very wealthy and highly mobile individuals – have already left the UK during the 2024/25 tax year, according to separate analysis by consultancy Chamberlain Walker. This is 50% above the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast of 1,200, with potentially many more set to follow between now and April 2027.

One factor behind the exodus is the abolition of non-dom status in the UK since April 2025.

The move has been estimated to draw an extra £34 billion into the Treasury, if only 1,200 non-doms would leave the UK. “It also relies on a tiny number of people (in the mid-thousands) staying and paying significantly more tax,” the Chamberlain report said.

“[But] evidence is emerging that the very wealthiest non-doms are the ones leaving,” the report said. “In addition, any existing data held by the tax authorities will only account for those non-doms who have already left, and takes no account of those who will leave during this tax year or next.”

Rich leaving the UK

Data shows where these exiting non-doms – and other wealthy individuals leaving the UK – are going, in a list of destinations where millionaires are moving to. The departures come amid several tax reforms under both the previous Tory government and the current Labour regime.

High-net worth individuals (HNWIs) have faced several tax clampdowns lately, from changes to capital gains and inheritance tax to extra stamp duty rates as well as the end of non-dom status.

Prime property owners will soon face new charges with a mansion tax on homes worth above £2 million being introduced from April 2028, while tax rates on property income and dividends are also being increased.

Many changes have come in under the new Labour government and chancellor Rachel Reeves but the previous Tory regime has also hit the wealthy by first freezing tax thresholds and reducing capital gains and dividend allowances.

It seems like the wealthy have hit breaking point and the recent Wealth Migration Report by advisory firm Henley & Partners, published in June, forecasts that the UK will lose 16,500 millionaires this year as they flock to more tax-friendly environments.

The figure is more than double the anticipated 7,800 net outflow from second place China.

It is the first time a European country has topped the table which has been dominated by Chinese exits for the past decade.

Juerg Steffen, chief executive of Henley & Partners, said: “2025 marks a pivotal moment. For the first time in a decade of tracking, a European country leads the world in millionaire outflows. This isn’t just about changes to the tax regime. It reflects a deepening perception among the wealthy that greater opportunity, freedom, and stability lie elsewhere. The long-term implications for Europe and the UK’s economic competitiveness and investment appeal are significant.”

Overall, a record 142,000 millionaires are projected to relocate internationally this year across the world, according to the report.

Earlier this year, MoneyWeek spoke to a millionaire who is leaving the UK because of the non-dom tax status abolishment.

In contrast, countries such as Dubai or closer to home in Greece and Portugal are making it easier for wealthy people to emigrate.

Why are the rich leaving the UK?

Even before the end of non-dom status in April 2025, the UK tax burden had hit record levels, making living in the country less appealing to those with lots of wealth.

Henley & Partners suggested the latest surge is driven in part by sweeping tax reforms in the 2024 Budget, including changes to capital gains tax and inheritance tax as well as VAT being added to private school fees.

Professor Trevor Williams, chairman and co-founder at FXGuard and former chief economist at Lloyds Bank commercial banking, highlighted that the UK’s economy has performed poorly over the past decade and said it is the only nation in world’s 10 wealthiest countries (W10) that has seen negative millionaire growth.

He said: “Since 2014, the number of resident millionaires in the UK dropped by 9% compared with the W10’s global average growth of +40%. Over the same period, the US saw a 78% increase in millionaires – the fastest wealth growth among the W10.”

Beyond higher taxes, Williams adds that Brexit has made the UK less attractive for wealthy individuals.

He said: “The UK’s attractiveness to the wealthy has also been eroded by the loss of some Euroclear activities since Brexit, leading to a shift elsewhere of market participants and capital.

“Furthermore, the UK has not rolled back financial regulation, which was anticipated by many when it left the EU’s single market and customs union. Instead, in a move widely criticised, the government shut down the UK Tier 1 Immigrant Investor Program in 2022, thereby eliminating an entry point for millionaires. This is in strong contrast to many other countries that have been acting to attract wealthy individuals.”

The UK isn’t the only country struggling to hold onto its wealthy population though.

The report shows that European Union heavyweights France, Spain, and Germany are also expected to see net HNWI losses in 2025, as are Ireland, Norway and Sweden.

This is attributed to affluent Europeans relocating to more investor-friendly hubs on the continent.

Where are the rich relocating to?

While the UK’s tax take is at a record level, there are plenty of locations looking to attract wealthy individuals with so-called golden visas in return for investment in government projects as well as businesses or residential developments.

One of the most popular locations is the United Arab Emirates (UAE), including Dubai, according to Henley & Partners.

Residents benefit from zero income tax as well as a luxury lifestyle. The UAE is poised to welcome a record net inflow of 9,800 millionaires this year alone, including Brits.

The UAE lets people apply for its golden residence visa by either buying a property worth a minimum of AED 2 million (approximately $550,000) in cash or through a loan from specific local banks.

There is also an option to purchase property off-plan through approved real estate companies.

Other top destinations for migrating millionaires include the USA, with a net inflow of 7,500 including expats attracted to Florida.

It comes as President Donald Trump recently launched a Gold Card that will provide US residency for $5 million.

For wealthy people looking to stay in Europe, several European Union members have visa schemes that will give you the perks of freedom of movement.

Greece is currently working on a new non-dom regime.

Under the proposals, those who invest a minimum of €500,000 in either Greek real estate, equity or capital markets will get a full exemption from inheritance and gift tax on foreign assets and will have non-dom status for 15 years.

Family members can also be added at any time during that period. Instead, there will be a flat tax of €100,000 per year on all foreign income.

It also has a golden visa programme that provides residence if you invest at least €250,000 in real estate.

Alternatively, Portugal also has a residence by investment programme that starts at €250,000

Meanwhile, Italy and Switzerland are expected to attract high numbers of millionaires due to relatively low cost residence by investment schemes.

Montenegro is seeing the highest growth though, with a 124% increase in resident millionaires.

HNWIs can get residency with no minimum investment after five years and it benefits from low taxes and possible entry into the European Union, the Henley & Partners report stated.

Singapore, Canada and Australia also remain popular destinations.

Singapore has an investment for residency programme to back either a Singapore Economic Development Board fund, new companies or to establish a family office in the country.

You can get Canadian residency by setting up a business or raising money through an angel investment or a venture capital fund.

Meanwhile, rather than seeking investment, Australia welcomes prominent and internationally-recognised talent from certain sectors such as energy.

Should the wealthy stay in the UK?

The end of nom-dom status and higher taxes may make the UK less attractive for wealthy people.

But there are arguments for sticking with the UK.

The government should be more predictable and stable compared with the US, plus London’s prime property market is well established and remains attractive as a safe haven amid volatile stock markets.

Tom Bill, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank, suggests more could even be done to attract overseas investors, especially as the Treasury wants more investment in British assets.

He said: “As the financial pressure intensifies on the government, which keeps borrowing costs higher for everyone, could it introduce a new measure with a politically-palatable name like a ‘UK investor visa’?

“Donald Trump recently unveiled plans for a ‘gold card’ visa in the US, which will cost $5 million. Elsewhere, the global landscape is a mix of countries winding schemes down as others ramp them up.”

He suggests this could help alleviate falling tax revenues as wealthy buyers exit the UK.

Baxter cautions that those thinking about emigration need to plan carefully.

He added: “Britons have access to a fantastic and relatively safe regulated financial services market that can help them invest efficiently on a global basis to save for future costs, but many choose not to engage with it, focusing instead on cash and property, neither of which are great investments at present.

“Financial services in other parts of the world are less regulated, more expensive, and riskier. Few will factor this in when planning to move abroad. We have had to clean up the mess made by clients working abroad

and using poor quality advisers, costing them hundreds of thousands of pounds from bad advice, expensive investment products and investments that go wrong.

“We have direct experience of Brits moving abroad and coming back years later, having miscalculated the taxes and net income they will have in other countries.”

Rather than emigrating, Baxter suggests smart financial planning and investment decisions can help in mitigating very high marginal tax rates and take the sting out of exceptional future expenses.