Waverton’s Rupert Elwes (pictured) comments on the abolition of the permanent non-domiciled status, in the Budget…
The non-dom regime was never going to survive this budget unscathed. The Labour party got the ball rolling, with their pre-election announcement that they would have scrapped the regime entirely, a policy that garnered support from some unlikely quarters.
Today the Chancellor has announced in his budget that anyone who has been resident in the UK for 15 of the past 20 years will be considered UK domiciled for tax purposes, and furthermore there will no longer be the ability to inherit non-dom status; this seems a reasonable compromise. With these changes George Osborne has recalibrated the legislation ensuring that the UK remains an attractive destination for overseas wealth generators whilst, at the same time, preventing, what the general public often perceive, as quasi non-domiciled individuals from taking advantage of the system.
One hopes (possibly naively) this may be the end of the relentless tinkering and that non-doms can now plan ahead with a greater degree of clarity than has been the case for a number of years.
Those who though, after many years in the UK, are now cricket loving, West Ham supporting, real ale drinkers that eat their turkey and brussels sprouts having watched the Queen’s speech on Christmas Day, may find themselves being brought into scope of the UK domiciled tax regime.
