Dr Andy Summers was recently interviewed by The Times for its 'Big Question' feature, 'Should expats be charged an exit fee?'. He commented:
"If someone wants to leave the UK, the government shouldn’t penalise that choice. But that’s not what an exit fee (or tax) does. A fair exit tax simply ensures people pay their bill on the way out.
Recent research by CenTax shows that over three quarters of business owners who leave the UK (by shareholding value) move to countries where they will pay no tax on their gains. This costs the UK at least £2.5 billion per year in foregone Capital Gains Tax revenue, at current tax rates. Including all the other taxes that leavers would have paid if they had stayed, the total revenue loss could be much higher.
Many countries including Australia, Canada, the US, France, Germany, and Japan have exit taxes already. These work by charging capital gains tax on leavers – either immediately, or if they sell within a few years of leaving. The UK is an international outlier in letting people leave completely tax free. Within the G7, Italy is the only other country that does not have any exit tax."
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