The Tax Laws relating to Non Doms have been around for some 200 years and are a hangover from Colonial times so this is hardly a new fangled ‘tax dodge’ which has been dreamt up by a team of ‘sharp suited accountants’.
The facility of Non Doms has probably been one of the most important reasons why London today is the ‘Greatest City on Earth’ and even in its own right is a major source of foreign earnings and commerce for the UK.
Independent august financial institutions have estimated that this facility earns the UK about £2billion worth of revenue which is why Gordon Brown (our esteemed former labour Chancellor) and his successor Alistair Darling were very reluctant to abandon this rich source of benefit for the UK.
We can certainly be proud that our beloved UK, despite having only 60 million people and with an insignificant currency (in world terms), has such an important role on the world stage both politically and economically. You could say we seriously ‘punch above our weight’ and why put this at risk?
London is the chosen place for many nationalities and amongst the cognoscenti for business, finance, equities, cuisine, arts and culture, it is the driving force for the UK and is a significant reason as to why this country is one of the fastest growing economies in the world today.
Our insurance and financial services industries are the envy of the world and more IPOs take place in London than even New York.
Margaret Thatcher had the good sense in the early 80s to roll back exchange controls and, ever since, London has been catapulted from a sleepy souvenir city (as Paris is today) to the present colossus that it is.
The Non Dom arrangements have been pivotal in this process. It concerns not just the wealthy oligarchs and the rich potentate but also American business people who pay worldwide tax anyway and this tax regime allows them to offset their own tax affairs more efficiently back home in the USA.
Why would anyone in his or her right mind put this at risk is beyond me. It is clearly driven by other motives besides the welfare of the UK in mind and who are the architects of this fiendishly inventive plan … yes you have guessed it, none other than the Laurel & Hardy of political lightweights …the two Eds. They are not only proposing abolishing this tax arrangement but are doing so with impunity. Comments from them this week have been totally contradictory such that appears that far from a “Slam Dunk”, there will probably be a consultative procedure which will probably end in them dropping this proposal.
They have learnt nothing from France and M. Hollande’s comedic attempts to impose a draconian tax on the wealthy French. By propagating a thoroughly Left Wing agenda he was able to gain the Presidency only to find that his tax proposals were unable to be implemented and are considered a complete disaster.
As predicted, did it create an exodus of wealthy French entrepreneurs? Is France the poorer for it? Absolutely! Did the UK benefit from this ‘Folie de Grandeur’? Yes we certainly did and one look at the purchases of property in the Kensington area over the past 2-3 years will demonstrate this beyond doubt. The French Lycée school is teaming with new recruits. Did it serve well the political aspirations of M.Hollande? Most certainly it did …he gained electoral power on the strength of it.
So what do we conclude here? The ridding of the Non Dom facility will probably raise no tax at all (and certainly not enough to pay for its implementation) but will cost this country a fortune. Why are we surprised! These two geniuses are the architects of the higher rate of tax at 50% when the IFS have decreed that at this higher scale of tax, the receipts will be less than at 45%. Are they undeterred? Absolutely not they are shameless, they are hoping and praying that if they can stoke up a class war and court popularism they may just succeed in cynically persuading certain members of the Electorate, who want to have a ‘poke’ at these wealthy foreign investors, to vote for them.
Non-Doms bring a great deal of wealth to this country, they employ people and they significantly add to the well being of this fine country of ours. Don’t listen to the Labour Party’s cynical rhetoric to the contrary.
This proposal taken together with Mansion Tax and Stamp Duty changes, will ensure that the ‘stuffing is knocked out’ of the residential property market at a time when the UK needs it most. We are in a consumer led economy and we must have a healthy property market to keep it going and if these measures topple the markets, then before too long, the ill effect will cascade down to the lower end with all the perils that this will entail. We will be in a real mess if we let these two ‘goons’ off their leashes.
For Pete’s sake don’t vote for them…. they are dangerous and caustic for the UK.
Written by Trevor Abrahmsohn.
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