As wealthy investors look abroad, Britain faces growing concerns over tax policy and the loss of high-net-worth residents
Britain’s reputation as a home for the world’s wealthiest is facing a new test as more high-net-worth individuals explore moving their tax residence abroad. The latest example is hedge fund billionaire Chris Rokos, who is moving his residency from the UK to Greece amid concerns about higher taxes.
Rokos, founder of Rokos Capital Management, paid himself £477 million last year as his $22 billion hedge fund benefited from volatile financial markets.
Why are wealthy people looking abroad?
The biggest change came on 6 April 2025, when Britain abolished the long-standing non-domicile tax regime.
Under the new system, UK residents are generally taxed on their worldwide income and gains. A new four-year exemption for foreign income and gains is available to qualifying new UK residents who have spent at least 10 consecutive years outside the UK.
The government has also changed inheritance-tax rules. From April 2025, long-term UK residents can face inheritance tax on overseas assets, with residence rather than domicile determining the scope of the rules.
For wealthy individuals who can choose where to live, these changes have increased the attraction of jurisdictions offering more favourable tax treatment.
How big is Britain’s wealth exodus?
Henley & Partners estimated a net loss of about 16,500 millionaires from the UK in 2025, with an estimated $91.8 billion in combined wealth. Its latest 2026 report, however, has moved away from publishing headline millionaire inflow and outflow estimates and instead focuses on the factors influencing wealth mobility.
More from BusinessHenley’s latest data still shows strong interest in leaving or diversifying from the UK. Applications to the firm from people with UK addresses rose 15 per cent between 2024 and 2025. In 2026, foreign nationals accounted for 53 per cent of applications originating from UK addresses, while British citizens made up almost half.
But the official data does not show an exodus on the same scale.
HM Revenue & Customs said in July that the number of non-domiciled taxpayers fell by only about 400, or 0.5 per cent, to 73,400 in the 2024-25 tax year. Around 9,000 people left the non-dom population, but around 8,600 new non-doms arrived. The group still generated £9.7 billion in Income Tax, Capital Gains Tax and National Insurance liabilities.
HMRC also said it does not maintain statistics specifically tracking high-net-worth individuals who leave the country.
