Consultation document on taxation of non doms - Welcome certainty
In the consultation document on the taxation of non doms released today (Friday 17th June), there was welcome certainty with the promise that the proposals made would be the last changes for the duration of the current Parliament.
Key proposals include:
- increasing the £30,000 fee non doms who have been UK resident for more than seven years
- pay for beneficial taxation to £50,000 for those who have been resident for 12 out of 14 years. This proposal was first aired in the Budget in March and is expected to affect 3,500 individuals in 2012-13, which will be the first year it will have effect.
In a welcome relaxation of the remittance basis, non doms will be able to remit offshore monies for inward commercial investment in the UK into a broad range of 'qualifying business', with the main emphasis being on whether the company to be invested in is a trading business. Of course, there will need to be further detail about what is and is not a trading business, and whether there can be a clearance procedure whereby confirmation is given that the proposed investment is in a qualifying business, but this discussion can be had during the consultation process, which closes on 9 September.
Overall, this is a very welcome measure.
The document also proposed a number of simplifications to the remittance basis, which will reduce administrative complexity and compliance costs for non doms. As a package of measure, these provide a string signal that the UK is setting out its' stall to retain and attract the non dom community.
