Lakshmi Mittal quits UK ahead of proposed taxes on super-rich

Indian-origin steel tycoon Lakshmi N. Mittal has decided to leave the U.K. as the Labour government weighs tax changes targeting the super-rich. Long based in Britain and ranked the country’s eighth-richest person with a 15.4 billion pound fortune, Mittal is already a tax resident of Switzerland and is expected to spend most of his time in Dubai. He has purchased property near Dubai’s Naïa Island, adding to a mansion he already owns there. 
According to media reports, the move comes ahead of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Budget on Wednesday, which is expected to include further tax increases on the wealthy as the government seeks to plug a 20 billion pound hole in public finances. Her previous one in October included increases in capital gains tax, reduced relief for entrepreneurs, and higher levies on family-owned firms. Critics have described the measures as discouraging wealth creationAn adviser familiar with the Mittals’ decision told the media that inheritance tax was the key concern. The U.K. levies up to 40 percent on estates, while Dubai and Switzerland impose no such tax. 
Sources close to the billionaire confirmed that Mittal’s decision followed the Labour government’s move to abolish the “non-dom” tax status, which allowed foreign nationals to pay UK tax only on local income. “It wasn’t the tax on income [or capital gains] that was the issue,” an adviser familiar with the family’s decision told The Sunday Times. “The issue was inheritance tax. Many wealthy people from overseas cannot understand why all of their assets, wherever they are in the world, should be subject to inheritance tax imposed by the UK Treasury. People in this situation feel they have little choice but to leave and are either sad or angry to be doing so.”
Mittal joins a growing list of entrepreneurs relocating amid uncertainty, including India-born tech founder Herman Narula and and Nik Storonsky of Revolut, have also announced plans to move to Dubai.