I think the real worry by those claiming the “Super Rich” will leave the UK is actually a worry that their biggest donors and financiers will leave the UK and gravy train will cease to run.
WonderingOctopus on
What’s telling is that the top earners have increased their wealth by unprecedented amounts in the last ten years.
So really what we are seeing is all the profits being accumulated by the wealthy, and then not being redistributed back into the system.
Unless there is something to stop all the wealth becoming concentrated with only the top minority, things will continue to get worse.
Exciting-Sir-1515 on
Not even the super rich
The £100k crowd are looking elsewhere. That’s the big issue.
FionaRulesTheWorld on
I don’t know why anyone ever believed this. It’s not like the super rich just have all their cash in an account and moving out of the country would be as easy as selling the house and getting on a plane.
Miyatz on
As a country we shouldn’t be so beholden to the interests of those who are only here because they get to avoid contributing to our public services.
Maybe some of them will leave – maybe even all of them will – but if they do that just shows they don’t actually care about the country they currently live in so why should we try to appease them?
You can’t put in a wealth tax without first making sure there is a punitive exit tax in place.
Low_Map4314 on
Is cause and effect too hard to understand for you ?
MomsAgainstMalarkey on
The problem we have at the moment is not actually the ‘super-rich’ leaving – it’s the people earning £100k-500k (who are the ones that actually pay for everything) rushing out of the door – Nick, 30, has given up – and rightly so. Why would you pay through the teeth to fund a Pakistani family that has no interest in contributing to have five children you could never yourself afford? I can only speak for the business I work for, but we have just leased a large amount of office space in Abu Dhabi due to employee demand, and I suspect that is increasingly true elsewhere as well.
BeardMonk1 on
Its not just the super rich. The normal average young person is looking abroad. I know so many, in our family and friends group, 18-15 year olds who are in the process of actively looking to leave. Other European and commonwealth countries are far more appealing and have a much better quality of life and future prospects.
jack5624 on
One thing I don’t like about the Greens is that this is a serious issue they dismiss. Super rich don’t pay as much tax as they are suppose to, but they still pay a lot of tax. If we increase taxes on them too much, they will just leave and we won’t get anything.
This is why I’m in favour of a land value and luxury goods tax. This way, even if you move, you want a fancy flat in central London with a Ferrari. You have to pay tax on it you can’t really avoid.
There is a reason sweeping wealth taxes on residents doesn’t exist in many countries, because it doesn’t raise a lot of money and makes people leave.
PickleMortyCoDm on
The simple truth is too many people are paid too low to contribute a decent amount of tax to the system. Everyone should be paid more, the wage is a joke in the UK. Expecting the rich to shoulder the burden all the time is avoiding the underlying issue, which is that the system needs more money
bathrugbysufferer on
People are utterly brainwashed. You live in a £3m house, will have to pay £2,500 a year in extra council tax, and you’re leaving the UK because you’re angry with the government?
If super rich people are serious about this good luck to them
appletinicyclone on
Just shows how much momentum Zach has got by doing three things
Saying actually some of us in the country don’t blame the world’s problems on immigration
That affordability is the biggest worry people have they’re seeing the cost shift dramatically for their foods
And that a wealth tax to claw back some of the funny money during covid that popped up for the wealthiest is probably a good way to help everyone that’s in work rather than stealth taxes by freezing income rates even as inflation costs rise a lot and outpace meager wage rises
That’s why he keeps getting headlines now. Because someone needed to occupy that left populist space and not be a bigot
UKAOKyay on
Was listening to an accountant on the radio who deals with the “Super Rich” when pressed it turned out it was “Love Islanders” and “Influencers” all wanting to move to Dubai and Cypress.
Aspect-Unusual on
Where are the vocal crowed who moan about migrants sending money out lf the country? When they do its really bad for us but when the super rich English guy does it becomes “yeah good for them, stick it to the government”
GhostRiders on
Ask France how it went for them.
They introduced a “Wealth Tax” in 2012. They introduced a 75% income tax on earnings over €1 million.
They dropped in 2014.
Some left, many just found work arounds.
In 2013 it raised an extra €260 million and €160 million in 2014.
no_fooling on
We should just give them a statue and seize their assets. Congrats you won capitalism, here’s a statue to commemorate your achievement, thanks for our wealth back.
FuzzBuket on
Glad someone is saying it.
Cause yeah if your living an incredibly comfortable life, with social groups, your family, kids in a good school, membership at soho House, ect are you gonna give up it all up for slug and lettuce Dubai. No you’ve built that wealth so you can enjoy that life.
Sure a few folk might actually have their brains broken and pull their kid away from their friends and pals, for no material difference to their life, but that’s not the majority.
The reality is most expats to low tax countries are course sellers in rented audis and estate agents who are LinkedIn pilled.
Heck the big example: Herman narula, who’s been all over the papers, isn’t leaving because the UK isn’t a good place to do business: it’s that after a lot of UK govt funds and tax breaks all he has to show for it is half a billion dollars in losses and a company that’s been dying since a failed pivot to crypto.
orangecloud_0 on
Same with the apparent exodus in Spain of the super rich but it never happened
LordLucian on
If these people who have gotten ridiculously richer over the past ten years would rather leave the uk than pay their fair share (not that they are taxed enough) then it just proves to me that they are traitors
Environmental_Move38 on
The bigger issue is the group between 18 and 45.
Couple hundred thousand. Brain drain.
I will in the next ten years leave too.
Ghalldachd on
The wealthiest people in this country have already contributed far more to public finances than the average man ever will. Polanski has likely never made a meaningful fiscal contribution himself (though his parents probably have). The resentment towards wealthy people in this country is so pathetic — and I say that as someone who isn’t doing very well financially. The government have made a mess of the economy, not the rich.
Darrenb209 on
His defence of why they won’t leave is absurd: “most of the time you can’t just pick up an asset and move.”
The vast, vast majority of the ultra rich’s assets are in things that are very easy to move, whether that’s stocks or money in a bank.
Most of them *won’t* leave because so long as they are making a net profit it’s not worth the cost of pulling out, they’ll just spend elsewhere in the future.
But his argument is worryingly out of touch with actual reality, for a group that holds wealth taxes as a core principle. This isn’t the 1900s. The ultrarich don’t usually directly own or control mining interests or factories that are in a fixed location anymore.
Green-Peace9087 on
define “super rich ” because the majority of people paying tax are those on 100-300K .
After tax , student finance , living costs (keeping in mind they don’t get childcare allowance and likely live in expensive areas ) they probably aren’t more comfortable than the middle class were 20 years ago .
Wages are simply too low in this country . If they had kept up with inflation , a graduate starting salary would be 45k by now , which is almost on the higher threshhold.
Someone who was at middle management / specialist professional level 20 years ago (40-60k ) would be on 80-120k now . so what used to be barely higher rate would be well into the cliff edge .
100k -140k gets you a life that was the equivalent of middle class 20 years ago . Not the ludicrous millionares lifestyle most people think of in their minds .
Look at the salary of armed forces officers or civil servants (easiest to compare because theyre publicly released ) . a captain in the navy would have to be on 100k + a year to have equivalent buying power . a civil servant fresh out of uni is still receiving the same 27k they got 20 years ago , despite that being a 50% drop in salary in real terms . They should be on 45k+ just to break even with inflation.
Im in this boat . born to a working class family , worked my ass off only to discover i can barely afford the same quality of life my parents had on a quarter of my salary .
My family could afford to have one stay at home parent with a part time job and a basic holiday a year. I could barely afford to do the same on a salary i would never have dreamed of as a child.
So im done . im one of the ones planning on leaving . I’ve worked all my life just to keep up on the treadmill . Im done . its not worth it . and while I’m fighting just to outpace inflation i have friends i grew up with relaxing on ludicrous benefits and easy part time jobs having large families I’m paying for .
And im in my 20s . so i hope the gov has fun losing the tax on my salary for the rest of my working years . Maybe you should have spent less money on asylum seekers and benefit queens and let me actually afford a comfortable life for my future family . bye bye . 👋
ImpracticalJerker on
Where will the billionaires move to? Do they really want to uproot their entire lives just to not pay a bit more tax? Surely that would cost them more than just staying? Surely they won’t be as happy living somewhere that doesn’t have English as a first language?
25 commenti
I think the real worry by those claiming the “Super Rich” will leave the UK is actually a worry that their biggest donors and financiers will leave the UK and gravy train will cease to run.
What’s telling is that the top earners have increased their wealth by unprecedented amounts in the last ten years.
So really what we are seeing is all the profits being accumulated by the wealthy, and then not being redistributed back into the system.
Unless there is something to stop all the wealth becoming concentrated with only the top minority, things will continue to get worse.
Not even the super rich
The £100k crowd are looking elsewhere. That’s the big issue.
I don’t know why anyone ever believed this. It’s not like the super rich just have all their cash in an account and moving out of the country would be as easy as selling the house and getting on a plane.
As a country we shouldn’t be so beholden to the interests of those who are only here because they get to avoid contributing to our public services.
Maybe some of them will leave – maybe even all of them will – but if they do that just shows they don’t actually care about the country they currently live in so why should we try to appease them?
Learn from Norway
https://www.reuters.com/business/norways-wealth-tax-trades-millionaires-equality-2025-11-24/
You can’t put in a wealth tax without first making sure there is a punitive exit tax in place.
Is cause and effect too hard to understand for you ?
The problem we have at the moment is not actually the ‘super-rich’ leaving – it’s the people earning £100k-500k (who are the ones that actually pay for everything) rushing out of the door – Nick, 30, has given up – and rightly so. Why would you pay through the teeth to fund a Pakistani family that has no interest in contributing to have five children you could never yourself afford? I can only speak for the business I work for, but we have just leased a large amount of office space in Abu Dhabi due to employee demand, and I suspect that is increasingly true elsewhere as well.
Its not just the super rich. The normal average young person is looking abroad. I know so many, in our family and friends group, 18-15 year olds who are in the process of actively looking to leave. Other European and commonwealth countries are far more appealing and have a much better quality of life and future prospects.
One thing I don’t like about the Greens is that this is a serious issue they dismiss. Super rich don’t pay as much tax as they are suppose to, but they still pay a lot of tax. If we increase taxes on them too much, they will just leave and we won’t get anything.
This is why I’m in favour of a land value and luxury goods tax. This way, even if you move, you want a fancy flat in central London with a Ferrari. You have to pay tax on it you can’t really avoid.
There is a reason sweeping wealth taxes on residents doesn’t exist in many countries, because it doesn’t raise a lot of money and makes people leave.
The simple truth is too many people are paid too low to contribute a decent amount of tax to the system. Everyone should be paid more, the wage is a joke in the UK. Expecting the rich to shoulder the burden all the time is avoiding the underlying issue, which is that the system needs more money
People are utterly brainwashed. You live in a £3m house, will have to pay £2,500 a year in extra council tax, and you’re leaving the UK because you’re angry with the government?
If super rich people are serious about this good luck to them
Just shows how much momentum Zach has got by doing three things
Saying actually some of us in the country don’t blame the world’s problems on immigration
That affordability is the biggest worry people have they’re seeing the cost shift dramatically for their foods
And that a wealth tax to claw back some of the funny money during covid that popped up for the wealthiest is probably a good way to help everyone that’s in work rather than stealth taxes by freezing income rates even as inflation costs rise a lot and outpace meager wage rises
That’s why he keeps getting headlines now. Because someone needed to occupy that left populist space and not be a bigot
Was listening to an accountant on the radio who deals with the “Super Rich” when pressed it turned out it was “Love Islanders” and “Influencers” all wanting to move to Dubai and Cypress.
Where are the vocal crowed who moan about migrants sending money out lf the country? When they do its really bad for us but when the super rich English guy does it becomes “yeah good for them, stick it to the government”
Ask France how it went for them.
They introduced a “Wealth Tax” in 2012. They introduced a 75% income tax on earnings over €1 million.
They dropped in 2014.
Some left, many just found work arounds.
In 2013 it raised an extra €260 million and €160 million in 2014.
We should just give them a statue and seize their assets. Congrats you won capitalism, here’s a statue to commemorate your achievement, thanks for our wealth back.
Glad someone is saying it.
Cause yeah if your living an incredibly comfortable life, with social groups, your family, kids in a good school, membership at soho House, ect are you gonna give up it all up for slug and lettuce Dubai. No you’ve built that wealth so you can enjoy that life.
Sure a few folk might actually have their brains broken and pull their kid away from their friends and pals, for no material difference to their life, but that’s not the majority.
The reality is most expats to low tax countries are course sellers in rented audis and estate agents who are LinkedIn pilled.
Heck the big example: Herman narula, who’s been all over the papers, isn’t leaving because the UK isn’t a good place to do business: it’s that after a lot of UK govt funds and tax breaks all he has to show for it is half a billion dollars in losses and a company that’s been dying since a failed pivot to crypto.
Same with the apparent exodus in Spain of the super rich but it never happened
If these people who have gotten ridiculously richer over the past ten years would rather leave the uk than pay their fair share (not that they are taxed enough) then it just proves to me that they are traitors
The bigger issue is the group between 18 and 45.
Couple hundred thousand. Brain drain.
I will in the next ten years leave too.
The wealthiest people in this country have already contributed far more to public finances than the average man ever will. Polanski has likely never made a meaningful fiscal contribution himself (though his parents probably have). The resentment towards wealthy people in this country is so pathetic — and I say that as someone who isn’t doing very well financially. The government have made a mess of the economy, not the rich.
His defence of why they won’t leave is absurd: “most of the time you can’t just pick up an asset and move.”
The vast, vast majority of the ultra rich’s assets are in things that are very easy to move, whether that’s stocks or money in a bank.
Most of them *won’t* leave because so long as they are making a net profit it’s not worth the cost of pulling out, they’ll just spend elsewhere in the future.
But his argument is worryingly out of touch with actual reality, for a group that holds wealth taxes as a core principle. This isn’t the 1900s. The ultrarich don’t usually directly own or control mining interests or factories that are in a fixed location anymore.
define “super rich ” because the majority of people paying tax are those on 100-300K .
After tax , student finance , living costs (keeping in mind they don’t get childcare allowance and likely live in expensive areas ) they probably aren’t more comfortable than the middle class were 20 years ago .
Wages are simply too low in this country . If they had kept up with inflation , a graduate starting salary would be 45k by now , which is almost on the higher threshhold.
Someone who was at middle management / specialist professional level 20 years ago (40-60k ) would be on 80-120k now . so what used to be barely higher rate would be well into the cliff edge .
100k -140k gets you a life that was the equivalent of middle class 20 years ago . Not the ludicrous millionares lifestyle most people think of in their minds .
Look at the salary of armed forces officers or civil servants (easiest to compare because theyre publicly released ) . a captain in the navy would have to be on 100k + a year to have equivalent buying power . a civil servant fresh out of uni is still receiving the same 27k they got 20 years ago , despite that being a 50% drop in salary in real terms . They should be on 45k+ just to break even with inflation.
Im in this boat . born to a working class family , worked my ass off only to discover i can barely afford the same quality of life my parents had on a quarter of my salary .
My family could afford to have one stay at home parent with a part time job and a basic holiday a year. I could barely afford to do the same on a salary i would never have dreamed of as a child.
So im done . im one of the ones planning on leaving . I’ve worked all my life just to keep up on the treadmill . Im done . its not worth it . and while I’m fighting just to outpace inflation i have friends i grew up with relaxing on ludicrous benefits and easy part time jobs having large families I’m paying for .
And im in my 20s . so i hope the gov has fun losing the tax on my salary for the rest of my working years . Maybe you should have spent less money on asylum seekers and benefit queens and let me actually afford a comfortable life for my future family . bye bye . 👋
Where will the billionaires move to? Do they really want to uproot their entire lives just to not pay a bit more tax? Surely that would cost them more than just staying? Surely they won’t be as happy living somewhere that doesn’t have English as a first language?