ninme

The Times - Darling: a menace to Britain
Global businesses look at the present Labour Government and think about moving away from London, by William Rees-Mogg

Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, now proposes a new system of taxation for the “non-doms”; these are foreign businessmen who live and work in London but do not have a British domicile for tax purposes. The danger is that businessmen will leave London and transfer their businesses to other centres that offer a much better tax deal. There is evidence that this process has already begun. Foreigners, who make money for Britain, are planning to leave London.

Mr Darling’s new tax proposals include a £30,000 tax on each qualifying non-dom in Britain, and changes to tax on trusts and capital gains. If these proposals become law, foreign investors and businessmen will leave, particularly for Monaco, which is keen to welcome them, and Switzerland. However, I would be even more worried about the businesses that will never come to Britain than about those that will leave.

Before big global businesses decide where to locate their offices or factories they consider all their options. In the last 20 years, the Republic of Ireland, with low business taxes, has been a particularly attractive place for business. As a result, Ireland has become a richer country than England, something that had not happened since the 5th century.

Fifth century, eh?

(btw, the title’s a reference to this post.)