‘I'm a millionaire fleeing Britain – a Reeves U-turn would stop me leaving'

Yahoo

4 hours ago

I have a spreadsheet open in front of me on my computer, detailing the exact number of days I have left to stay in the UK this tax year. The reason? Labour's changes to non-doms inheritance tax rules.
The changes are so costly that they have forced me to reconsider where I live. When my days in the UK run out, I will not spend time in some tax haven; I'll just go back home to South Africa and work out the next steps.
If Rachel Reeves reverses the inheritance tax change for non-doms, I would unequivocally stay and grow my venture capital business in the UK.
I know so many other millionaires in my situation. Many have left but still have properties here and have not yet completely settled in their new homes.
Half of these people would rush back if the rules around paying inheritance tax on worldwide assets changed, because we are all upset to leave and feel forced.
But the Chancellor must act quickly before it is too late.
I want to keep investing in growth companies like I did with quantum computing start-up Oxford Ionics, which last week sold for $1.1bn (£820m) to a US firm.
But after raising £500m to invest in Britain's most exciting start-ups since I arrived here in 2019, my future investment will now be elsewhere.
This money will likely help grow companies in mainland Europe instead. It is a shame, as Oxford and Cambridge are where the most exciting cutting-edge projects are happening.
But I am sadly certainly not going to bring any more money to the UK if I cannot stay.
I know people will say: 'It's just inheritance tax. What does it matter if you are dead?'
My businesses are my life's work. I want them to secure my sons' futures.
I grew up with very little, fleeing communist Poland as a child refugee with my parents and two siblings when the country started running out of food in the early 1980s.
The only way to get out was to flee with fake papers.
We spent the whole of 1981 in a migrant camp in Austria, where my parents applied to countries accepting refugees.
We ended up in South Africa without knowing anything about the country or the apartheid regime. We didn't speak English and had $500 to our name.
In the next years, we were just about surviving. I studied actuarial science at university because that was the only way to get a bursary, and we had no money for schooling.
After working for a couple of insurance companies, I realised I'm not diplomatic enough to be a corporate employee.
So I ended up in the world of start-ups and decided to start my own company. I gambled everything on it, putting my house up as collateral.
It is today one of South Africa's large financial services groups.
I came to the UK for security reasons in 2019, after speaking out against corruption in Jacob Zuma's government and being left fearing for my life.
London has become my home. I had hoped to live here for the rest of my life. Being forced to leave for reasons outside my control feels much like grief.
The impact goes beyond just my own personal circumstances. I have had to let 12 casual household staff go – gardeners, cleaners, builders.
While I still have a venture capital firm, Braavos, in Britain, I will not hire anyone new here. Over time, I may have to think about relocating it.
I put my flat in Kensington on the market five months ago, but because so many like me are leaving there are hardly any buyers.
I'm considering putting my house that I love up for sale too, but for now I am holding out for a miracle.
If there is none, I will be forced to go once my 90 days in Britain this tax year are up. I'm leaving on the strong advice of my tax advisers, as the new rules around inheritance are unworkable for me.
For one, South Africa has foreign exchange controls. That means if I were to die under current rules, South Africa may refuse to release the funds to settle a huge inheritance tax bill in Britain.
Even ignoring the difficulty of getting the money out, my wealth is mainly held in the form of shares in the financial services company Sygnia, which I founded and built in South Africa.
My sons would be forced to sell those shares quickly. If you want to sell anything fast, you'll have to do so with a big discount, which would devalue the company.
How can this be good for the economy?
If Reeves changes her mind, I would immediately cancel my plans to leave. I could rehire all of my household staff, take my property off the market and focus on raising funds for another investment fund to boost British growth companies.
My message to the Chancellor is this: you came into power to fix the economy, so don't destroy growth by putting politics before economics.