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Legal community slams Budget's non-doms policy

Non-doms The overall impression is of a tacit acknowledgment that the original provisions were overly aggressive, poorly thought out and shoddily drafted. This is yet another sad reflection of the current Treasury practice of 'shoot first - think later'. One would hope that our elected representatives would be capable of learning from their mistakes, but there has been no real evidence of this to date. One of the main sources of antagonism for non-doms - the disclosure process - has been completely removed and is to be welcomed. The re-classification of the £30,000 from a fee to a tax on unremitted income/gains is also a major concession and will help our influential American friends (surely no coincidence). Will non-doms still leave in droves? Sadly, many have already started making plans and though some will change their minds (particularly relevant here is the disclosure rules) there has still been a massive loss of confidence in the UK government. What our clients are telling is that they feel this this is just the beginning of a concerted attack against them and its best to get out now, while the going is good. I think the Treasury is aware of this sentiment as we also have a promise in the Budget that there will be no further changes for 'this parliament and the next' (God forbid we should have another Labour administration!).

12-Mar-2008

4:44 pm