logo
Farage plans to charge non-doms £250,000 fee which will be given to poor

Farage plans to charge non-doms £250,000 fee which will be given to poor

Independent5 hours ago

Reform UK would reinstate non-dom status for wealthy individuals for a £250,000 fee which would be given to Britain's poorest workers, Nigel Farage has announced.
On Monday, the party leader and MP for Clacton will reveal the policy which he said would 'encourage the return of wealth and talent to the United Kingdom', according to the Telegraph.
The Labour Government abolished the non-dom tax status in April, which is where UK residents whose permanent home or domicile for tax purposes is outside the UK.
Last year, former Conservative chancellor Jeremy Hunt revealed plans to scrap the tax status before successor Rachel Reeves sped up the process.
Reform UK's policy would mean 'every high-net-worth newcoming (or returning leaver)' would pay a £250,000 one-off fee 'in return for a stable, indefinite remittance-style regime on offshore income and a 20-year inheritance-tax shield', Mr Farage wrote in an article for the Telegraph.
All of this fee would be given to Britain's lowest-paid full-time workers through an automatic tax-free dividend via HMRC, the party leader added.
In response, Labour said the policy was a 'golden ticket for foreign billionaires to avoid the tax they owe in this country'.
Mr Farage wrote: '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.'
The plan would mean around 2.5 million 'hard-working Britons' would receive an 'annual cash bonus', the Reform UK leader claimed.
He added: '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.'
A Labour spokesperson said: 'Nigel Farage can brand this whatever he wants – the reality is his first proper policy is a golden ticket for foreign billionaires to avoid the tax they owe in this country.
'As ever with Reform, the devil is in the detail.
'This giveaway would reduce revenues raised from the rich that would have to be made up elsewhere – through tax hikes on working families or through Farage's promise to charge them to use the NHS.'

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

My salary is none of Bridget Phillipson's business
My salary is none of Bridget Phillipson's business

Telegraph

timean hour ago

  • Telegraph

My salary is none of Bridget Phillipson's business

How much do you earn? If that question makes you flinch, then you're in good company. I have never had a comfortable conversation with a colleague about pay, and I'm not sure I know anyone who has. British people are apparently seven times more likely to tell a stranger how many sexual partners they've had than what their income is, a University College London survey once declared. So if you're itching for some awkward water-cooler chat this afternoon, just ask your colleagues what they earn – and hey presto, everyone's feeling hotter. The Government is determined to banish this self-consciousness, concerned that our stiff-upper lip attitude benefits some far more than others. It is hard to call out inequality if nobody has any idea what anyone else earns. There are stories of mothers re-entering the workforce only to discover that the people they are managing are taking home far more than them. The Office for Equality and Opportunity, which is led by the Minister for Women and Equalities, Bridget Phillipson, is currently consulting on ways to break this taboo. The most eye-catching idea on the table is to force businesses to tell staff what their colleagues earn. That's not going as far as Norway, where everyone's tax return is fair game, but it would be a big cultural shift and could eventually pave the way for a Norwegian-style system where pay becomes a matter of public record. It sounds like a quick fix, until you seriously think about the implications of opening this Pandora's box. There would be the inevitable office infighting – furious colleagues discovering that the incompetent so-and-so they work with earns far more than they do – followed by some pretty demotivating conversations as staff are told that more experience doesn't necessarily mean more productivity or skill. Next would come an inevitable fudging of numbers by bosses eager to protect those on big incomes. When the BBC first decided to publish the salaries of high earners, the aim was to mark a new era of transparency. However, in reality, any earnings made through the BBC's commercial arm (which is not funded by the licence fee) do not need to be disclosed. TV chat show host, Graham Norton, acknowledged this loophole when he said that the list of mega earners is 'frustrating, because it's so inaccurate'. He added: 'There are people I know who make millions from the BBC who are just not on that list'. Radio host, Simon Mayo, has also dismissed the annual publication of staff salaries as an 'annual turkey shoot'. If things then did evolve into a more Norwegian-style system where all salaries are out in the open, then just think of all that salary snooping. People could end up hunting down the earnings of potential partners, former partners, enemies and tenants. The numbers could be dug out and weaponised by siblings in inheritance battles, landlords eager to push up rents or tech giants harvesting information for targeted adverts. And even if none of that did happen, the simple facts are in front of us – Norway still has a gender pay gap, with men on average earning 13pc more than women. The same problems remain. Everyone deserves their privacy. Although research suggests that we tend to overestimate the number of people who are wealthier than us and underestimate the number who are poorer, there's no way the publishing of everyone's salaries will create a more understanding, equal society. Previous studies have shown that the phenomenon of 'keeping up with the Joneses' is not about the people living in the same street or country as you, but about those in your inner circle – close family, friends and colleagues. People might not care if a stranger in their area knows what salary they're on, but they don't want the person they sit next to at work or their university friend to be able to dig up the figure and bring it up at a dinner party. This came up when American social media marketing site, Buffer, decided to start listing staff names, locations and salaries in a detailed public spreadsheet. In seconds, strangers can scroll from highest to lowest earner in the company, from the chief executive's £224,000-a-year salary to a 'customer advocate's' £61,000 figure (both are US-based). 'Someone felt that if their friends and family knew their salary, it might change the relationship they have with them,' Gascoigne said to the Huffington Post in 2016, before adding that this discomfort proved unfounded. Instead, he said there was a 'dramatic' rise in the number of people applying for jobs. It might have worked well for a start-up, but are our salaries really any of Bridget Phillipson's business? At the moment, nothing is off the table, although the most likely option if the Government ends up doing anything would probably be listing salary ranges in job adverts. That's already law in California and New York, but the verdict on whether these rules have made much impact is mixed, and the last thing British businesses want right now is more red tape. Bosses are already gearing up for the enormous raft of changes coming in the Employment Rights Bill, and won't have much patience for new rules which they deem unnecessary. The next generation of workers might just come to the rescue. According to a survey conducted by recruiter Robert Half, 86pc of Gen Z workers are happy to discuss their salaries compared to 59pc of millennials and 41pc of baby boomers. This point might crop up as the Government seeks evidence before making any decisions.

Bacardi Breezers to BuzzBallz: why gen Z aren't the booze buzzkills we've been led to believe
Bacardi Breezers to BuzzBallz: why gen Z aren't the booze buzzkills we've been led to believe

The Guardian

timean hour ago

  • The Guardian

Bacardi Breezers to BuzzBallz: why gen Z aren't the booze buzzkills we've been led to believe

You can tell a lot about a generation from the contents of their cool box: nowadays the barbecue ice bucket is likely to be filled with hard seltzers, non-alcoholic beers and fluorescent BuzzBallz – a particular favourite among gen Z. Two decades ago, it was WKD, Bacardi Breezers and the odd Smirnoff Ice bobbing in a puddle of melted ice. And while nostalgia may have brought back some alcopops, the new wave of ready-to-drink (RTD) options look and taste noticeably different. It is not just the drinks that have changed, but drinking habits too, driven in part by more health-conscious consumers and demand for variety, according to Marten Lodewijks, the president of the drinks market analysts IWSR US. 'A decade ago, hardseltzers, with less sugar and a lower ABV [alcohol by volume], appealed to a new, more health-conscious consumer that didn't want quite as much sweetness. Lower calories also meant less flavour, however, and, as with any trend, a countertrend soon emerged,' he said. Companies responded with a 'much wider range of ABVs, flavours, sweetness levels and even carbonation'. BuzzBallz, founded by a teacher and inspired by a snow globe, is among the newer arrivals tapping into that shift. The instantly recognisable palm-sized spheres 'climbed to become the number 18 RTD brand by volume in the UK', Jess Scheerhorn, the vice-president at BuzzBallz, told the Drinks Business magazine, citing data from Circana, the US market research group. The growing popularity of RTD products reflects a shift towards more casual, convenient drinking, often outside traditional settings such as pubs, Alice Baker, a senior research analyst at Mintel, said. 'Sales of RTDs have shot up from around £530m a decade ago to an estimated £970m in 2024,' she said, with many people buying them as 'a money-saving alternative to cocktails in pubs and bars'. The drinks company Diageo is aiming to make its classic brands such as Smirnoff, Guinness and Captain Morgan relevant to gen Z drinkers, whom it suggests are wrongly perceived to be less interested in alcohol. Giles Hedger, its global consumer planning director, said: 'A lot of people talk about gen Z being a cohort that is moving away from alcohol. Our data tells us otherwise. While they drink socially a little less frequently than other cohorts, they do so very enthusiastically.' In fact, 'gen Z is super-committed to socialising', he says, with alcohol a 'very significant and enthusiastic part of that'. According to Diageo, whose data draws on 150 consumer experts around the world and reams of market research, gen Z do half their drinking in pubs and clubs and are fans of 'three-hour-plus' occasions. They also 'love spirits' and have a soft spot for cocktails. Diageo has revamped Smirnoff Ice amid runaway demand for pre-mixed drinks. The 00s alcopop has a new look and comes in a can, but according to the marketers it still has the 'citrus flavour notes that people know and love'. Looks matter too – especially for a social media-savvy generation, Kiti Soininen, Mintel category director of UK food and drink research, said. 'Our research shows that 73% of white spirits drinkers think that using visually appealing glassware makes drinking white spirits more enjoyable – which no doubt works in favour of BuzzBallz.'

Farage plans to charge non-doms £250,000 fee which will be given to poor
Farage plans to charge non-doms £250,000 fee which will be given to poor

North Wales Chronicle

time5 hours ago

  • North Wales Chronicle

Farage plans to charge non-doms £250,000 fee which will be given to poor

On Monday, the party leader and MP for Clacton will reveal the policy which he said would 'encourage the return of wealth and talent to the United Kingdom', according to the Telegraph. The Labour Government abolished the non-dom tax status in April, which is where UK residents whose permanent home or domicile for tax purposes is outside the UK. Last year, former Conservative chancellor Jeremy Hunt revealed plans to scrap the tax status before successor Rachel Reeves sped up the process. Reform UK's policy would mean 'every high-net-worth newcoming (or returning leaver)' would pay a £250,000 one-off fee 'in return for a stable, indefinite remittance-style regime on offshore income and a 20-year inheritance-tax shield', Mr Farage wrote in an article for the Telegraph. All of this fee would be given to Britain's lowest-paid full-time workers through an automatic tax-free dividend via HMRC, the party leader added. In response, Labour said the policy was a 'golden ticket for foreign billionaires to avoid the tax they owe in this country'. Mr Farage wrote: '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.' The plan would mean around 2.5 million 'hard-working Britons' would receive an 'annual cash bonus', the Reform UK leader claimed. He added: '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.' A Labour spokesperson said: 'Nigel Farage can brand this whatever he wants – the reality is his first proper policy is a golden ticket for foreign billionaires to avoid the tax they owe in this country. 'As ever with Reform, the devil is in the detail. 'This giveaway would reduce revenues raised from the rich that would have to be made up elsewhere – through tax hikes on working families or through Farage's promise to charge them to use the NHS.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store