Spending & Earning

UK Calls Bluff of Ultra-Rich Foreigners Threatening to Leave

  • New Labour government’s budget is raising an extra £40 billion
  • Private equity tax rise was smaller than industry’s worst case

Tower Bridge, on the skyline of the City of London.

Photographer: Jason Alden/Bloomberg

The Labour party was pummeled with arguments from wealthy groups seeking to avoid harsh treatment in its first budget. This week the government made its choices clear: private equity executives were largely let off the hook, but non-doms will pay billions of pounds more.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves set out £40 billion ($51.7 billion) in extra taxes on Wednesday, in a move she said was necessary to repair the public finances and invest in services. Overall, it’s received tepid support from the business world.