Farage: ‘I will charge non-doms £250k and give it to the poor'

Telegraph

4 hours ago

Nigel Farage will vow to reinstate non-dom status for wealthy entrepreneurs if they pay a £250,000 fee which will be handed to Britain's poorest workers.
On Monday, the Reform UK leader will use a press conference to unveil plans to impose a Robin Hood-style levy on new or returning 'high net worth' individuals.
The revenue generated would then be redistributed to pay cash bonuses of £600 a year to low-paid workers.
Writing for The Telegraph, Mr Farage said the policy would encourage the return of wealthy and talented entrepreneurs to the UK while also providing benefits to British workers.
The policy will be seen as a further attempt to win over Labour voters after Reform's commitment last month to restore the winter fuel payment to all pensioners and scrap the two-child benefit cap.
It also creates a clear dividing line with the Tories and Labour on wealth generation after both parties ordered crackdowns on non-doms.
'Success must be celebrated'
The announcement comes a day after a poll showed that Reform was on course to win an outright majority at the next general election.
Mr Farage said: 'Our policy is simple – Britain must be a place where success is celebrated, not punished with excessive taxes, crippling energy costs, or punitive inheritance levies.
'We will actively encourage the return of wealth and talent to the United Kingdom, on the clear condition that those who come here deliver immediate, visible benefits to our workers.'
Rachel Reeves scrapped non-dom status in April, ending wealthy individuals' right to avoid full UK tax on their overseas earnings.
The Chancellor also made worldwide assets of all UK residents subject to inheritance tax at 40 per cent. The moves have been blamed for driving some of Britain's richest people abroad.
Those affected by the scrapping of the status include people such as the South African national Richard Gnodde, Goldman Sachs's best-paid banker outside the US, Nassef Sawiris, the Aston Villa FC co-owner, and the steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal.
Mr Farage wrote: 'Over the last 10 years, UK policy toward non-domiciled taxpayers has lurched from piecemeal tightening under successive Conservative chancellors to outright abolition under the current Labour Government.
'The result? A record-breaking and alarming exodus of high-spending, high-tax-paying residents, leaving an estimated £7 billion yearly hole in public finances and inflicting huge collateral damage on London's position as Europe's financial centre.'
Mr Farage claimed Reform's approach would be 'different, transparent, and designed to directly benefit the hard-working backbone of this nation'.
'Every high net worth newcomer [or returning leaver] will pay a £250,000 one-off entry contribution in return for a stable, indefinite remittance-style regime on offshore income and a 20-year inheritance-tax shield,' he added.
The new non-doms would have to renew their status with a £250,000 payment every subsequent decade, which would renew their 20-year inheritance tax exemption. They would have to pay UK taxes on their UK earnings including income tax, NI, VAT and stamp duty.
Anyone who had remained in the UK and wanted to renew their non-dom status would also be eligible under the plans, to be set out in a 12-page document on Monday.
'Crucially, 100 per cent of this contribution is hypothecated to Britain's lowest-paid full-time workers, delivered automatically by HMRC as a tax-free cash dividend,' said Mr Farage.
'This means roughly 2.5 million hard-working Britons – the grafters who keep this country running – will receive an annual cash bonus, sent directly to their bank accounts at the end of the financial year.
'Thanks to this policy, in a low-uptake scenario with 6,000 cards issued annually, we'll generate a £1.5 billion fund, resulting in a tax-free annual dividend of £600 per worker. In a high-uptake scenario with 10,000 cards, this could deliver a £2.5-billion fund, providing £1,000 per worker.
'This isn't just a number. It's money in the pockets of those who need it most, from cleaners to nurses to small business owners.'
By Nigel Farage
It should come as no surprise that, over the past few decades, many of the UK's most successful and influential business minds have left the country in droves – a clear and troubling sign of national decline.
Over the past 10 years, UK policy toward non-domiciled taxpayers ('non-doms') has lurched from piecemeal tightening under successive Conservative chancellors to outright abolition under the current Labour Government.
The result? A record-breaking and alarming exodus of high-spending, high-tax-paying residents, leaving an estimated £7 billion yearly hole in public finances and inflicting huge collateral damage on London's position as Europe's financial centre.
The social contract between the rich and the poor is at an all-time low. Public trust in the tax system has been eroded by perceptions that elites play by a different set of rules. In the past, your average Briton saw little to no benefit from the wealthy in their midst. If anything, it created greater division and hostility.
Reform UK is determined to change this. We are the party of working people – the party of those with alarm clocks who get up in the morning and work hard, whether they're at the higher end of the financial scale or the lower end. Our approach is different, transparent, and designed to directly benefit the hard-working backbone of this nation.
Unlike the opaque financial mechanisms of the past, where wealth seemed to vanish into hidden pots of money that ordinary people could not see, Reform UK is committed to doing things differently. We will rebuild the social contract by ensuring that every wealthy individual who wishes to move here makes a tangible contribution to Britain's lowest earners.
Our policy is simple: Britain must be a place where success is celebrated, not punished with excessive taxes, crippling energy costs, or punitive inheritance levies.
We will actively encourage the return of wealth and talent to the United Kingdom – on the clear condition that those who come here deliver immediate, visible benefits to our workers.
Here's how it works: every high-net-worth newcomer (or returning leaver) will pay a £250,000 one-off entry contribution in return for a stable, indefinite remittance-style regime on offshore income and a 20-year inheritance-tax shield. Crucially, 100 per cent of this contribution is hypothecated to Britain's lowest-paid full-time workers, delivered automatically by HMRC as a tax-free cash dividend.
This means roughly 2.5 million hard-working Britons – the grafters who keep this country running – will receive an annual cash bonus, sent directly to their bank accounts at the end of the financial year.
Thanks to this policy, in a low-uptake scenario with 6,000 cards issued annually, we'll generate a £1.5 billion fund, resulting in a tax-free annual dividend of £600 per worker. In a high-uptake scenario with 10,000 cards, this could deliver a £2.5 billion fund, providing £1,000 per worker.
This isn't just a number. It's money in the pockets of those who need it most, from cleaners to nurses to small-business owners.
Our policy is not a 'golden visa' or a backdoor to citizenship. It is a one-time flat tax paid by newcomers in exchange for the certainty of a favourable tax status. Individuals will still be liable for all standard UK taxes on UK-sourced income, property, and spending. But they won't be taxed on offshore income and gains for the duration of their agreed status. Pay your quarter million pounds upfront, and enjoy UK residency without worldwide taxation hassles. After all, this is still the best country in the world, and many of the world's wealthy want to move here but are deterred by the economic downsides.
Unlike the old, indefinite non-dom arrangement under the Tories, which lacked transparency and failed to benefit ordinary people, our solution is immediate, visible, and mutually beneficial for both newcomers and the hard-working British worker struggling to make ends meet.
Unlike Labour's punitive approach, which drives wealth away, we incentivise the rich to return to Britain.
Over the past decade, the number of non-dom taxpayers has plummeted from over 120,000 to fewer than 80,000. The failed approaches of both Labour and the Conservatives have cost this country billions annually.
Reform UK's plan will reverse this trend, capturing revenue from global wealth, channelling funds to support the working class, and restoring London as a global powerhouse for business, finance, and investment.
The driving ambition of Reform UK is to put the lives of everyday British citizens first – and this policy does exactly that.
We are the party of working people, and we are building a Britain where wealth and opportunity are shared, not hoarded. By ensuring that every pound contributed by the wealthy goes directly to those who get up early and work hard, we are creating a fairer, stronger, and more prosperous nation for all.