Would you leave UK if Reeves starts taxing wealth

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Just that really. Wondering if anyone else considering it. DCs both at Uni in next year. We had thought of living abroad a few months each year anyway but now UK is getting worse and worse for tax. Not super wealthy but millionaires on paper and with various investments. Been to advisor and would have IHT bill of £1 mill + if we stayed which makes me so angry. Worked hard for so many years to provide for our family and feels too harsh.
Spoke to our eldest about this and she even said so many of her friends have parents who have moved abroad in last few years. We are lucky we have options for countries, feels hard but then a flight is actually fast than driving up and down to where DC are at Uni so makes me wonder.....

Feel so fed up the constant threats to those who have saved for future and not got into debt through spending on material things or holidays, tech etc etc....

Inheritance tax is paid by people who don’t trust their relatives. If you have so much surplus, gift some to the next generation and then it’s exempt after 7 years.

On paper, the tax is high but with planning it is mostly avoidable.

Why are the very rich always so worried about paying tax / inheritance tax and finding ways to avoid it. All of us pay tax, it's part of living in a modern society that provides for all its citizens. Why would you leave a country just to save money, for what purpose? Leave if you would love to live somewhere else but choice positively - If you have that high an IHT bill over1 million then I presume you have enough for now and to pass on.

What pisses me off is the “we have worked HARD”. Do you look down on other people and their work because they don’t work HARD enough to become wealthy? And I cannot imagine that any high earner could have got where they are on the back of hard work alone as most businesses need the (yes equally HARDWORKING other roles that together contribute but could pay minimum wage). Responsibility, hours of work, decision making, unique skills yes - but hard, please consider that it’s not just high earners who do this!

No one in our company is pain minimum wage - we pay well and have had 3 people leave in 3 years

Where would you go though? A lot of Europe has higher taxes than UK. Why aren't you grateful that you have done well and happy to pay more tax?

No.

I moved abroad a few years back for other reason not financially related and honestly you get talking to lots of ex-pats (British migrants). SO many come back, I know loads including us who returned. It makes me chuckle when people think life is going to be one long holiday with loads of money to play with. We lost out financially when we moved abroad. It can be amazing for some but for many it's not the dream you think it is.

This.

Absolutely. There are many people on minimum wage who work their tits off, some of them have multiple jobs and a lot of juggling. But many people with wealth believe they got there just through hard work and anyone who isn't as wealthy as them is simply lazy or just need to retrain or find a better job. Life isn't like that for many people, its so rude when people make out they deserve more for working hard as though less fortunate people don't work hard, are lazy and any hard times they may fall into are their own fault.

Plus 9 times out of 10 there is some level of privilege at play along with the 'working hard'.

Blindspotforcats that is exactly my point. House in London then pensions and savings. Everyone else seems to think it's ok to tax those who have worked their socks off and saved. No its not.
Reeves is going to cause more problems for this country than ever.

PandoraSocks they don't know the reason just that they are in minority with their friends. A few still have parents in UK but I was surprised when they said it would really matter as quite happy to travel wherever we were.

My son tells me that most of his colleagues have left or are planning to leave the UK once they qualify. Most to Canada or Australia, but a few have gone to Hong Kong or Dubai. That's one of the UK's biggest insurance/pension firms and his colleagues are typically mid 20's to mid 30's. It's a massive worry. He's going to a leaving "do" tonight for someone emigrating to New Zealand!

Added to which is this hidden attitude that comes from (wilfully) not recognising what it costs in public services to keep people working their arses off on minimum wage for business owners and shareholders. If you baulk at paying more tax on the grossly inflated income/profit that makes you so wealthy compared to many of your employees, you deserve everything you get. Including the world's smallest violin serenading you as you let the door hit you on your arse when you flounce out of the country 🎻

Agreed, if you haven't had the opportunities for certain educational aspects or career opportunities then you don't always have the chance to go for a higher paid position. And some people come from privileged positions that opportunities are plentiful, not saying they don't work hard but if you begin on a higher rung of the ladder then its easier to climb to the top. But sadly, lots of people don't seem to understand the nuances of life and lives that are vastly different to their own. And sometimes, they don't want to understand because that doesn't fit their narrative of 'they've worked the hardest'

Are you married then OP or not?

Most lefties play the "you should be grateful to pay more tax card" as a sign of virtue signalling, but funnily enough they change their tune when it comes to themselves. Typical Leftie hypocrites.

.....eh? How have you made this a left wing vs right wing argument? Why do right wing leaning people ALWAYS try and blame everyone on anyone who votes left wing? Its barrel scraping at its finest. Find a new argument, one that actually makes sense.

The rest of Europe really doesn't tax high earners more than the UK. They tax low earners more than the UK. The UK is hugely, punitively redistributive - that's the problem.

Someone on £70k will pay less tax in Norway than in the UK. And they'll actually still have access to great state-run services, which are available to everyone.

Because everyone pays their share. They don't expect high earners to bank roll the whole country, even whilst whinging about how unfaaaiiir it is and making it very clear how much they hate the hand that feeds them.

Also it’s just a fact that some professions pay more, but these will all rely on lower paid jobs or their own high salaries would be unsustainable. Would be interesting if the advent of AI were to make the current “lowly” jobs into the high paid ones of the future!

I just think enjoy your wealth OP, it gives you choice and freedom, yes even if you stay in the uk by that choice, and perhaps pay a bit more in tax, if you like it here. If not then seems the world is your oyster!

I actually think inheritance tax is stupid. I dont understand why is such a big amount and how easy it is to avoid. Which people obviously aim to because its a big amount.

Im sure a much lower amount that more people paid would be fairer and probably raise more as people would be less included to avoid it.

Bluminroamin never said others don't work hard. But yes we put in huge amounts of hours and stress to get where we are. We paid huge amounts of tax which is my point. Why is that liable for tax at 40% when we die. How is that fair?

We live in London so house prices higher. Maybe we should have had less stressful jobs and gone on extravagant holidays or bought latest in what we wanted and got into debt. Is that fair? No it's not. But we saved and bought a house and now will be targeted.

We saved to buy a property to rent out as well but will end up selling that if Reeves puts National Insurance on top of other costs. Won't be worth it.

To those who asked about where there are lots of places with lower tax and great human rights. Def not Dubai or Middle East.

I'm not wealthy and I would absolutely leave this country if I had no family, didn't care about where I lived and didn't care about my roots/ancestry.

If DH and I dropped dead tomorrow our estate would be subject to about £1.3m IHT. We have life insurance that would more than cover this so no cash flow issue for kids. We’re planning to make substantial gifts in two tranches- one in the next 5 years (when we also plan to retire) and one about 15 years after that (when we will be in a better position to judge what we need in the way of investments to see us out) and hopefully have a decent chance of living long enough to make these transfers exempt. I certainly wouldn’t leave the country over taxation (especially a tax it’s fairly easy to reduce). I struggle to believe that RR is going to introduce a simple wealth tax, they are so hard to implement.

OP, you should take some financial advice if you don’t like paying tax.

If A and B are married or are in a civil partnership, and A dies, leaving everything to B, there is no inheritance tax to pay. This is why people keep asking whether OP is married.

When B then dies, the first £325k of B's estate can be passed on with no inheritance tax to pay. As A had no tax to pay, B is entitled to A's £325k as well. And if B passes on the family home to children/grandchildren, that's another £175k that doesn't attract IHT, and once again B gets A's as well as B's own allowance.

So that's £1m in total that can be passed on to children with no inheritance tax at all. A life-changing amount. Any amount over that would be taxed, yes, and why not? I think being able to pass on as much as £1m tax-free is insanely generous. Hardly anyone ends up paying IHT if they were married and have children.

I think it's awful that people take advantage of all the things in this country that help them acquire so much wealth (including things that are actually harmful to others like the suppression of wages and maintaining high house prices) and then decide to bail when the country is on its knees.

People are dying in this country because the NHS is broken, children are going hungry. What is your alternative to taxing wealth?

You do realise most proposals suggest 1% tax on over £10 million in assets. If you'd rather abandon your country and your fellow citizens than pay what amounts to peanuts with that wealth, I think that does make you an awful person.

True. Plus some countries actively work to attract higher payers.