Millions to renounce UK residence if labour win election

In excess of seven million UK expats potentially could renounce their British residence if the Labour Party is victorious in May’s general election, claimed an international advisory.

Nigel Green, the chief executive of De Vere Group, said should Labour win next month then many expats will require advice on whether changing their domicile status would be beneficial for them.

He explained that while this move would spark an exodus of the UK’s wealthiest and most successful non-domicile taxpayers, it would also have other, far-reaching implications too. He noted that these people currently contributed a disproportionately high amount of funds – both directly and indirectly – to the UK’s economy.

Green went on to say that historically, a number of long-term British expats had renounced their UK domicile so as to legitimately reduce their tax burden and take advantage of other tax perks; for example, he said, having a domicile overseas means you are exempt from inheritance tax in Britain.

He pointed out that a Labour win, which would likely see the abolishment of the non-dom tax status, could result in many more expats considering their futures. However, he also acknowledged that a high majority of UK expats would rather not acquire another country’s domicile, whether or not they had lived there for a long time.