The U.K. Closed a Tax Loophole for the Global Rich. Now They’re Fleeing.
19th July 2025
The Wall Street Journal, unfortunately nowadays a Voice of the Crust.
“I’m on my way out,” said Bassim Haidar, a Nigerian-born Lebanese businessman who moved here in 2010. “There comes a time when you don’t feel welcome anymore, and it’s time to just start packing and leaving.”
Haidar is one of the estimated 74,000 who used a centuries-old tax loophole, abolished in April, that catered to the global rich. The nondomiciled—or non-dom status, as it is known—allowed foreigners living in the U.K. to pay tax only on what they earned domestically. Profits made abroad were ignored unless brought into the U.K.
Beset by high public debt and crumbling infrastructure, the U.K. hoped eliminating non-doms would bring in about $45 billion by 2030. But instead of paying up, wealthy expats are rushing for the exits, sparking questions about whether the effort will raise any money at all.
Funny how that works.
The British experiment has laid bare the difficult politics of taxing the rich. Taxing high earners has become a rallying cry on the left as a solution to income inequality and fraying social-safety nets. Low-tax advocates say taxes on the wealthy are counterproductive, driving away job creators and big spenders.
In the U.S., New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani has proposed a “millionaires tax” on New Yorkers making more than $1 million a year, prompting vocal rich people to say they will leave for lower-tax jurisdictions such as Florida or Texas.
One challenge of taxing the wealthy is that they are highly mobile, with houses around the world, private jets and an army of advisers who can sort out visas and bureaucratic paperwork quickly. Jurisdictions such as Dubai, Italy and Monaco have rolled out the red carpet, offering no taxation or structures similar to the U.K.’s old non-dom status.
Politicians think that they can just pass a law and reality will fall in line with it. They have no clue that people react to incentives and oppression by voting with their feet.