We heard much bluster earlier this year about the forthcoming exodus from the UK as a result of 50% tax and more besides. Tracey Emin is now supposedly packing her dirty washing and going too. But as the Guardian noted yesterday:
Maybe she'll go, maybe she won't, for in May, when last we trod this path, the Sunday Times told us how evil Gordon had driven away top-notch entrepreneur Hugh Osmond, who was apparently heading for Switzerland. Also Peter Hargreaves, the king of financial advisers and Bristol's richest man, whose next address was to be on the Isle of Man or in Monaco. Hargreaves, however, quickly announced he was staying, and he did. "He's in the office every morning, so I think he is still around," an aide tells us. Osmond is still here too, still paying tax, still making a fortune. "Saw him yesterday, said an associate." Switzerland and the cuckoo clocks can wait.
I make no apologies for drawing attention to this. Every time there’s a tax reform the non-doms, the wealthy, the hedge funds, the banks (delete as applicable) are all set to leave. But they don’t go.
And now their bluff has been called.
So I suggest they now stop issuing pathetic press releases and issuing blatantly false threats every time someone asks you to pay your way. We never did believe them. We never will believe them.
And they will be taxed.
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They do go. To places like Gstaad, Monaco, etc. People are mobile. Property is fixed, and these people still own plenty of that in Britain. It is not going to go away and it is still available to be taxed.
If 50% won’t drive Tracey Emin away, maybe we should suggest 60%! 😈
Guy Hands has gone to Guernsey.
Aberdeen Asset Management has moved to Dublin.
Shire Pharmaceutical has moved to Dublin.
McDonalds is moving its European headquarters to Switzerland.
Kraft, Procter & Gamble, Electronic Arts and Yahoo have already done so.
Google has chosen Dublin and Zurich over London for its European business and engineering headquarters.
United Business Media is moving to Dublin.
Alex
Wrong – part from Hands, maybe
The rest have somewhat notionally moved their head offices
I look forward to the HMRC attack on their doing so. As the Guardian showed, it was rather hard to find their presence in these places
Richard
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/shire-moves-to-ireland-to-optimise-tax-809728.html
You assume HMRC agree
Do they?
If not, you’re wrong
Shire only has a very small part of its revenues in the UK and has had a larger presence in the US for many years, so the move is not a surprise. I doubt that they have had any relevant tax comps agreed yet.
The other moves are a simple matter of fact. US multinationals choose to move their operations from time to time, and these are all moves to other countries. I am not aware of any recent inbound moves.
Google’s offices in Ireland is real enough with hundreds working there (including a cousin of mine) and their engineering headquarters is the largest of several technical sites they have in Europe, but they chose against locating it in the UK.