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    1. #1

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      Administrator
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      Feb 2011
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      cerberus1 is on a distinguished road

      Higher Tax rates could drive talented British workers overseas

      Nearly three-quarters of the UK’s higher earners feel ‘soaked’ by taxes and are tempted to quit Britain for greener pastures, a new survey has found out. The proposed increases to the tax rate may soon see a growing number of “working age, ambitious and career-focussed” Britons emigrate overseas, it says.

      According to a statement by deVere Group, an independent financial advisory organisation, a growing number of successful, working-age Britons may consider a move overseas after UK’s Chancellor George Osborne confirmed that the higher rate of tax threshold is to increase for the first time next month, and that it will steadily increase in the years to come.

      “As our recent poll reveals, the UK’s higher earners already feel ‘soaked’ by taxes. Nearly three-quarters of those surveyed reported that they are tempted to quit Britain. As these people are of working age, ambitious and career-focussed, they would in our experience typically consider destinations such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Shanghai and South Africa,” said Nigel Green, founder and CEO of deVere Group.

      deVere Group, which has more than 80,000 mainly expatriate clients worldwide, support this with the findings of a recent survey they carried out last month that concluded 72 per cent of middle to top earners in the UK have ‘seriously considered’, ‘are thinking about’, or ‘would be tempted’ by a move overseas. And, personal taxation was cited as the primary motivation for quitting Britain for 65 per cent of those polled.

      “The decision announced in the Budget to raise the threshold will drag yet more hardworking British people into the higher rate tax band. There’s already been an extra 1.4 million UK taxpayers pulled into this band over the last three years, with around 4 million paying this rate today [and the] number [could] reach 5.3 million by 2016. As such, the so-called ‘higher’ band increasingly looks more like a ‘regular’ band in the UK; it can no longer conceivably be seen exclusively as the tax bracket of ‘the rich’,” said Green.

      “The one per cent announced in last week’s Budget may not be a huge increase but it is likely to be received as another blow by middle and top earners, and it will certainly further compound the sentiment for many that they are increasingly ‘soaked’ by taxes.

      “I suspect that this could all trigger more of Britain’s top achievers to consider a move abroad to safeguard and maximise their money in order to give themselves and their families the best lifestyle opportunities.

      “History has taught us that if higher earners perceive they are taxed too much, they will simply move elsewhere to lower tax jurisdictions because they have the resources to do so,” he added further.

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    3. #2

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      Senior Member
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      Jul 2010
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      North Vancouver, BC 4 yrs, now Niagara region, Ontario for over a year
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      blackcomb is on a distinguished road
      Doesn't surprise me at all. I don't miss losing a third of my wages to the tax man that's for sure! Bills after that, and nothing left to spend at the beginning of each month except with a 2nd job for spending money and even then you didn't do more than you should as it would get taken away again in taxes anyway, what a wonderful life that was. Lowest paid profession in UK, nurses, get paid what you're worth and go overseas.. when UK trained. They think employing cheap labour is the answer where those from poorer countries feel richer for working in the UK, but it doesn't bring quality work so how is that better? I got sick of kicking folk up the backside to do their jobs properly, or having to pick up the pieces.