The UAE has become the second most popular destination for high-net-worth individuals looking to leave the UK ahead of changes to the tax regime, figures from investment experts Henley & Partners showed.
Last year a record number of millionaires left Britain, with more than 800 relocating to the UAE. The highest number, around 6,500, headed to the EU. Nassef Sawiris, Egypt’s wealthiest person and owner of Aston Villa football club, announced at the end of 2023 that he was moving his family office to Abu Dhabi.
Keir Starmer's government has announced changes to the tax system, which will see current non-doms’ overseas assets subjected to UK inheritance tax for the first time from April. Previously, non-doms paid a £30,000 annual fee to HM Revenue & Customs to protect their offshore income and gains.
Figures compiled by global analytics firm New World Wealth and investment migration advisers Henley & Partners revealed the exodus accelerated after the general election in July, which saw Mr Starmer's party take power after 14 years of Conservative government. Britain lost a net 10,800 millionaires to migration last year, a 157 per cent increase on 2023.
A survey by economic advisory firm Oxford Economics found that nearly two thirds are planning to leave the UK or considering doing so because of the changes.
“At Autumn Budget 2024, the UK government confirmed plans to replace the remittance basis with a short-term tax regime for 'qualifying new residents' and to change the tests for exposure to inheritance tax, in both cases with effect from April 2025,” it said.
“These reforms will change the way many non-UK domiciled individuals are taxed on their foreign income and gains and affect their exposure to inheritance tax.
“The decision to change the tax rules on non-doms was based on the Office for Budget Responsibility’s estimate that abolishing the non-dom regime will raise around £3 billion annually in steady state. This OBR figure differs substantially from our recent analysis, which found that the reforms could cost the Exchequer up to £0.9 billion per annum.
“The risks associated with the non-dom tax reforms have also been highlighted by other institutions. The Adam Smith Institute estimate that by 2035, these reforms will make the economy £1.3 billion smaller than it would otherwise have been, which could lead to over 23,000 job losses.
“Similarly, the Growth Commission has warned that abolishing the non-dom regime will hinder prospects for economic growth, potentially decreasing GDP by 0.5 per cent and reducing revenue by £5 billion.”
According to the UK government's own website, from April 6, “the test for whether non-UK assets are in scope for IHT [inheritance tax] will be whether an individual has been resident in the UK for at least 10 out of the last 20 tax years immediately preceding the tax year in which the chargeable event (including death) arises”.
At the moment, if a non-dom dies, the UK-based part of their estate is subject to inheritance tax. All their overseas assets – property, trusts, cash and bank accounts – that are held outside Britain are not subject to UK inheritance tax. But from April 6 they will be.
THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
Pathaan
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Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
CONFIRMED%20LINE-UP
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Tales of Yusuf Tadros
Adel Esmat (translated by Mandy McClure)
Hoopoe
How the bonus system works
The two riders are among several riders in the UAE to receive the top payment of £10,000 under the Thank You Fund of £16 million (Dh80m), which was announced in conjunction with Deliveroo's £8 billion (Dh40bn) stock market listing earlier this year.
The £10,000 (Dh50,000) payment is made to those riders who have completed the highest number of orders in each market.
There are also riders who will receive payments of £1,000 (Dh5,000) and £500 (Dh2,500).
All riders who have worked with Deliveroo for at least one year and completed 2,000 orders will receive £200 (Dh1,000), the company said when it announced the scheme.
In the Restaurant: Society in Four Courses
Christoph Ribbat
Translated by Jamie Searle Romanelli
Pushkin Press
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MOTHER%20OF%20STRANGERS
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