hfly

Hmmm, how did I know your response would be something like this?

Here is a newsflash for you.......while some of the NON DOM's have traditionally been are billionaires (like the PM's wife seemingly). There are quite a lot that are just moderately wealthy, or dare I say it, actually middle to middle high "middle class". But again you miss the point, many of those rich foreigners spend a hell of a lot of money in your country, are taking NOTHING from you, and if not feeling welcome they can easily leave (and now are in fact doing so, or in the process of doing so) and can go anywhere they want. Nondom is a concept that is not new and has existed since 1799 in the UK. It should also be added that in addition to spending their money, most Non Doms, in fact pay were paying 30k GBP or 60k GBP, per year, for the pleasure of living in the UK, which in fact means that each and every one of them was in fact in the top 1% of tax payers (not even including essentially paying 20% for all of their spending in the country) That shortly will all be gone.

Back to the subject however I see all of these issues, as part of some weird post Brexit, "condition" that has made many Britons confuse the UK's place in the World. While the next sentence or two may seem at first like an insult, please read on to understand my meaning........

Over the last 40-50 years, the UK has lost its mantle as the best of anything in the World, in many most things, the UK may rank in the top 5, or 10 or whatever, no one visits the UK for the weather. What the UK has excelled at however is being a fair neutral court. To push this example further, let's call it the "Wimbledonization" of the UK. For many decades, hell closer to a century before Andy Murray (which many people would classify differently in jest) No British tennis player was really a contender, however Wimbledon is still arguably the most important tennis tournament in the World. All tennis players dream of playing at Wimbledon. This of course has given the AELTC great prestige and a voice in the game, despite the fact that Brits simply have not done well (the rest of the World barely knows who Tim Henman is, despite the fact that in the UK he was always lionized as the next winner of Wimbledon). Similarly the "city" after Thatcher became the preferred "venue" for most things finance in Europe, despite the fact that the UK itself only really has one top tier company in the top 10 of any major category. London thrived because it was seen as a great neutral place to do business, fair play, decent taxes, English speaking, EU, etc etc. I can apply this example to dozens of industries, many that you do not even know exist............Industries that are already gone and not coming back!

What is happening now is some strange syndrome, where the political classes, the media, and many people somehow do not understand the above, and believe that if they make the UK an unattractive place for Business, for living, for shopping, that people are still going to "come", and that all will still be ok with the economy. Parroting numbers from 2022 or 2023 that occupancy numbers are essentially the same as 2019 mean nothing, if in 2022 for example there was a record number of Domestic Sales and MICE meetings, to get people back on track after 2 years of Covid. For the Exchequer and the economy there is in fact a huge difference between 100 people at a Brittania in Sheffield for 29 quid per night per room and 10 Chinese tourists staying at a Brittania outside London at 100 quid a night and spending money, let alone, just one Qatari staying at the Dorchester and buying just one high end watch.

KARFA

Considering the record inward migration, I am impressed anyone can try and make an argument the UK is not an attractive place to live and work

hfly

KARFA, eventually there will be a limit to how many Lycamobile store workers and delivery drivers that are needed.......

KARFA

what a comment.

NickB

lol. Given that the minimum annual charge for non-doms is GBP 30K, that means that non-dom status is only meaningful if you have at least a six figure sum of spare income that you can leave abroad without any repatriation to the UK in addition to whatever income is earned or repatriated in the UK (and therefore subject to tax here) to support your lifestyle here. I think that we have a very different understanding of what "midddle middle class" is. I guess this is another example of the difference between hfly-ese and British English.

In any event, that discussion, just as much as the flow of consciousness about the UK decline, Wimbledon and god knows what else in the rest of your post, has no relevance to the topic of the thread, so I will leave it at that.

tom tulpe

But not unexpected

hfly

There are plenty of French lawyers in London that commute to Paris to do their work and are making 100-200 EUR a year, and being Nomdom in the UK has been more than worth their while, as there are a ton of Norwegian finance and shipping people that also are not Millionaires whose income abroad supports their Nondom status in the UK. As for what means what, I would posit that in London Middle Class often means over 60k a year, I would also posit that upper middle class is in excess off 125k.

As for the rest, and the blindness to see what I am saying.......is sort of proof of my point.

BTW, It is estimated that the 75,000 or so Nondoms currently pay something like $10 Billion a year in taxes overall, Good luck funding the shortfall when they leave. Again, few of them moved to the UK for the weather, the only ones that I have talked to who might stay longer are those that would wait for their kids to finish school, those that can afford it will leave their kids in Public school and leave. Hell I know a guy in Turkey who until last month was going to move his four kids himself, and his ex wife to the UK, and had everything set up and called it off due to Nondom going away.........not good.

KARFA

Wasn’t this thread about APD changes at one point?

Perhaps those who wish to advocate for our precious non doms (without whom the UK would undoubtedly collapse in to dust) should start another thread?