Non-doms chip in £6.6bn in 12 months
Non-domiciles' income tax contributions rise 7%
THE AMOUNT of income tax paid by UK-based non-domiciles rose by 7%, city-based law firm Pinsent Masons has claimed.
According to the firm’s latest report, non-doms contributed £6.6bn in 2013/14 – up from £6.18bn the year before.
Non-domicile rules allow UK residents to pay tax on their UK income, but deem their permanent home to be outside the UK. They therefore do not have to pay UK tax on foreign income as long as they do not transfer it into the UK – or they pay a charge of at least £30,000 instead of a full assessment.
Pinsent Masons found that along with the increase in receipts for HM Revenue & Customs, the total number of people claiming the status has risen from 110,700 in 2012/13 to 114,300 in 2013/14.
In July, the chancellor pledged the status will disappear from April 2017. Anyone who has been resident in the UK for more than 15 of the past 20 years will be treated as UK domiciles for tax purposes and will be taxed on their worldwide income and gains.
Non-domiciles also pay “significant amounts in capital gains and transactional taxes such as VAT”, Pinsent Masons said, warning the group’s contribution could be “put at risk” by moves to curb their activity.
Pinsent Masons’ head of tax investigations Fiona Fernie said: “Changes announced in the Budget have led many non-doms to reassess their position – a large proportion are internationally mobile and will hesitate to relocate if a better deal can be found elsewhere.”