Tax Havens

TooOrangeyForCrows

cricidmuslibale said:

Right now in the UK the personal allowance (the amount of non-savings, non-dividend income anyone can earn each year before paying income tax) is frozen at £12,570 and has been for almost the last 4 years now (since 6 April 2021)! Worse still, it is due to remain frozen until 2028 at the very earliest! This is effectively an ever-increasing income tax grab from some of the very poorest workers in the UK; £12,570 is not much more than a third of the median annual earnings of UK workers at present! [This median amounted to £37,430 in 2024.]

Frankly, if one of the 'reforms' that has to happen in the near future in order to first unfreeze the personal allowance and then allow it to rise annually with inflation in future, would be the effective closing down of all tax havens within the UK through appropriate tax treaties (including e.g. the Isle of Man, Channel Islands etc.) to enable more tax revenue to be sourced from some of the very richest members of society who have legally avoided an awful lot of tax over many years now, then I for one am very much in favour in such a move!

I have also cynically thought that the soon to be increased minimum wage (from £11.44 to £12.21 whilst keeping the personal allowance the same) is another sneaky tax grab.

artyboy

eskbanker said:

cricidmuslibale said:

ETA: As @eskbanker has correctly pointed out below, the Isle of Man, Channel Islands etc. would first need to be brought within the UK's legal and financial jurisdiction through mutual agreement; I don't know how difficult that would be but it is by no means impossible, surely?

Shall we go for Greenland, Panama, Canada and Gaza too?

* strokes white cat on lap while grinning maniacally *

Hey, I'd be prepared to look at anywhere that won't levy IHT on my pension pot 

Jaco70

ChilliBob said:

Tell you what, I'd certainly visit Sark before committing to it that's for sure! (I know you're not, I know this is just for info/interest). I went to Sark, wasn't quite what I was expecting for sure! 

I’ve always found it a fascinating place (largely the fact it has no cars or tarmac’d roads), and wanted to go there when the kids were small, but it’s not the simplest place to get to, and all in all quite expensive, unless you sleep under canvas. So it never happened.

From what I’ve read in recent times, it seems to be slightly in decline, which is a shame, and my wife is not particularly interested in holidaying there, so may never happen now.

Reaper

ChilliBob said:

Tell you what, I'd certainly visit Sark before committing to it that's for sure! (I know you're not, I know this is just for info/interest). I went to Sark, wasn't quite what I was expecting for sure! 

Curiously Sark will consider you a resident and tax resident if you either rent or own a house. There is no need to actually live there.

But whether the UK would agree you are not liable to UK tax if you live in the UK year round is another matter!

Jaco70

cricidmuslibale said:

Right now in the UK the personal allowance (the amount of non-savings, non-dividend income anyone can earn each year before paying income tax) is frozen at £12,570 and has been for almost the last 4 years now (since 6 April 2021)! Worse still, it is due to remain frozen until 2028 at the very earliest! This is effectively an ever-increasing income tax grab from some of the very poorest workers in the UK; £12,570 is not much more than a third of the median annual earnings of UK workers at present! [This median amounted to £37,430 in 2024.]

Frankly, if one of the 'reforms' that has to happen in the near future in order to first unfreeze the personal allowance and then allow it to rise annually with inflation in future, would be the effective closing down of all tax havens within the UK through appropriate tax treaties (including e.g. the Isle of Man, Channel Islands etc.) to enable more tax revenue to be sourced from some of the very richest members of society who have legally avoided an awful lot of tax over many years now, then I for one am very much in favour in such a move!

ETA: As @eskbanker has correctly pointed out below, the Isle of Man, Channel Islands etc. would first need to be brought within the UK's legal and financial jurisdiction through mutual agreement; I don't know how difficult that would be but it is by no means impossible, surely?

Couldn’t agree more…..tax thresholds are holding back the economy, I have no doubt.

If they increased the 40% threshold to 90k, business owners would take more out of their companies, and spend it in the economy. There must be endless billions sitting in businesses, benefiting nobody.

Scottex99

Can add Gibraltar to the list, where I live.

I moved to the South of Spain to teach English 10 years ago and ended up on the rock.

I haven’t done anything overly tax haven-y so far, that I know of although I’m planning to speak to a CSP/Tax person about some options soon.

PAYE is ~29% and no CGT.

Expensive to rent and to buy, small but safe. You can get 10x more for your money across the border in Andalucía, a base in Gib and a holiday place in Spain is normally the way people go about it 

Albermarle

Scottex99 said:

Can add Gibraltar to the list, where I live.

I moved to the South of Spain to teach English 10 years ago and ended up on the rock.

I haven’t done anything overly tax haven-y so far, that I know of although I’m planning to speak to a CSP/Tax person about some options soon.

PAYE is ~29% and no CGT.

Expensive to rent and to buy, small but safe. You can get 10x more for your money across the border in Andalucía, a base in Gib and a holiday place in Spain is normally the way people go about it 

Although if lived in a hot, very sunny, coastal town on the Med, I am not sure I would be wanting to go on holiday in another hot, sunny coastal town on the Med !

Scottex99

True, a weekend/bank holiday place I should re-phrase.

You can get some good variety depending on which Costa you head for though.

A great part of the world tbh