Husband wants to move to dubai

[Dilemma87]

My husband is a businessman in property and with the recent proposed tax changes and new rules putting limits on how long he can keep doing things from the UK, he’s now saying he needs to move to Dubai and operate from there.

We actually have some friends there, and his business partner is already based out there, so on paper it all sounds easy enough. His plan is to buy a second property in Dubai and move there by himself, while I stay here with the kids.

The problem is, the children are really settled one’s in high school and the other is due to start soon, so moving them just isn’t an option. He’s suggested that we (me and the kids) fly out to Dubai every school holiday to spend time with him.

The catch is, under his visa he can only be out of Dubai for 90 days a year, so he’d basically have to live there full-time.

AIBU to think this is just not going to work long-term? I can’t help but feel like this is the start of living completely separate lives.

Oh grow up. Dubai is far worse.

It's all well and good when it's with other people's money though isn't it

I presume that you don't use and you have never benefitted from any of the services that your taxes and other people's taxes pay for? So you have never visited the GP or had a hospital appointment from childhood to the present day, you have never been to school or University and you won't claim your state pension when you reach pension age? If that's the case, you should leave.

How is your Marriage normally? . Strange he would just get up and leave his family behind

I see this as your husband choosing to earn more money and pay less tax by leaving his family and living in Dubai. If he's wealthy enough already what does it say about someone that they would give up their family as long as they can keep hold of more of their money?

Absolutely people can choose to avoid paying tax as much as possible but when it means seeing hardly any of your wife and children IMHO you've got your priorities wrong.

preaching to the choir. I worked in the UK for 20 years - and left last year as a high earner. Both my husband and I so I do sympathise don’t get me wrong I do! But I have also seen the other side where my dad who worked hard his whole life and then became ill in his late 50s and had nowhere to turn. The trick is to efficiently manage the money collected in tax and make it fairer… the chances of that happening…

100%!

I don’t hold out much hope for the longevity of your marriage. No, it won’t work long term. Yes, he is choosing greed over family.

Firstly, I am really surprised how ignorant people are and yet they have such strong opinions :).

OPs husband is not trying to avoid paying taxes on the businesses he built in UK, he will still pay taxes for those! -but it looks like businessmen will have to pay taxes on businesses they worked and built from scratch in OTHER countries. And rich people ARE leaving to protect their other businesses.

OP - you said you have visited Dubai - you know that your human rights and your woman rights would be just fine there.
Schools in Dubai are great and expat kids are very welcoming.
However... I would definitely prefer Abu Dhabi for family life.
I would not agree for my husband to leave alone in Dubai .

I know someone who moved to Dubai to avoid tax. He came home after the social costs of not paying tax were made 100% clear when a construction worker he knew died for want of a credit card. No access to healthcare without one.

Of course some people don’t care about more vulnerable people than themselves, and there’s a few posting here.

If my husband went out there I’d tell him not to fucking bother coming back.

The UK is in a shocking position, soon to get even worse.

After tax rises hit, more people like your husband will leave, the Treasury won’t get the funds they need and then the cuts start. Cuts to schools, the NHS and welfare.

More people will be coming here needing full financial support and taxpayers will be asked yet again, for more.

If I had the opportunity I would leave in a heartbeat. What will this country be like for your children if you stay? I’m urging my 20 year old to apply to do a year of his degree in the US with the hope he will make contacts and get out of the UK when he finishes university in 2027/2028.

It’s a sorry state of affairs, but sometimes you need to know when to give up. Your husband has already realised that time is now.

So I vote, keep the family together and go and find a better life in Dubai.

No way would I be ok with this. He is a husband and father, he can't just run off like a young bachelor. If it was a few months that would be one thing but permanently? How could he do that to the family?

I expect you will be wanting your state pension in old age. It is not being saved in a pot for you, it will be paid by those children that you are so disdainful of.

Perhaps you ought to look at the current financial position in the US before sending your son off there.

Not to mention the possibility of being slung in a camp for some Bluesky post.

Pretty much this! Selfish git. He'd uproot his entire family and move to Dubai to avoid paying a bit more tax. I'm never one to say LTB, but in this case LTB. Money before family life! What a catch!

Tbf it has improved a lot recently for average women there.

Migrant women workers & sex workers have a horrible deal, otoh...

And there's still a lot of repressive Islam.

Yes, that's the key. If it were still high but there was value for money, it'd be different.

What do you disagree with about current tax system? Waste?

Healthcare and crime aren't good there for a lot of people. It does depend on area. Also risk of stuff like wildfires..

This! That poor man....

How'd you feel about tax though if we had no immigrants and effective public services? Those seem to me to be the main issues.

This is the crux of it. He cares more for money than his family. It's absolutely vile. How women choose to procreate with men like this is beyond me.

I agree there are few human rights issues for average expats in Dubai.

But why do you think it's ignorant to object to the treatment of migrant workers, porta potty sex workers, and the genocide enabled by the government in Sudan? Not to mention the way the ruling family treats the princesses,, who are effectively prisoners.

Guns? This isn't America.

Sounds like a self-dramatising Hollywood fuelled fantasy.

What new rules are these that mean he has to live separately in a different country. Dubai isn’t necessary roads paved with gold. Doesn’t sound much of a marriage for him to leave like this. I would look into the practicalities carefully if this is a genuine thread.

You hate helping families who are providing new generations as the birth rate continues to shrink ? Very antisocial.