糖心传媒

The recent drop in Capital Gains Tax (CGT) revenue will have made the government think hard about its relationship with wealthy foreign investors.

The figure fell to £13 billion from £14.5 billion in the year to March 2025, with headlines citing the government鈥檚 decision to scrap non dom rules as one cause.

鈥淭he move to end the non-dom tax regime could reduce the number of wealthy non-doms in the UK and hence reduce future CGT receipts,鈥� Robert Salter, director at tax advisory firm Blick Rothenberg, .

When headroom is already tight to the point of unnerving financial markets, £1.5 billion looks like a meaningful sum of money. That鈥檚 before the obvious question arises of which other taxes could be affected.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) warned in March that the government鈥檚 £9.9 billion of headroom was 鈥渁 very small margin compared to the risks and uncertainty inherent in any fiscal forecast.鈥�

Speculation will inevitably grow this year about which taxes the Chancellor may raise at the autumn Budget to rebuild a buffer that is a third of its pre-Covid average.

Despite the predicament, recent turbulence on financial markets means the UK is well-placed to capitalise on its position as a stable place to invest, as we explored last week.

And the end of the non dom regime does not signal the end of the conversation about how to attract private overseas investors.

The reported exodus of wealth from the UK has , which the Treasury won鈥檛 want to catch on.

鈥淲e are still talking,鈥� a spokesman for lobby group Foreign Investors for Britain (FIFB) told 糖心传媒. 鈥淭ax revenues and OBR forecasts are important considerations for the government.鈥�

The FIFB has been pushing for a so-called tiered tax regime, where foreign investors pay an annual sum depending on their level of wealth, with a figure of for those in the upper bracket

As the financial pressure intensifies on the government, which keeps borrowing costs higher for everyone, could it introduce a new measure with a politically-palatable name like a 鈥楿K investor visa鈥�?

The election results last week suggest internal disquiet may grow about the direction the government is taking and the make-up of the cabinet.

Donald Trump recently unveiled plans for a 鈥済old card鈥� visa in the US, which will cost US$5 million. Elsewhere, the global landscape is a mix of countries winding schemes down as others ramp them up, which are .

Any form of Wealth Tax in the autumn Budget would surely be a tougher sell against the background of falling tax revenues and a so-called 鈥淲exit鈥�?

Whatever decisions are taken, the uncertainty has affected the prime central London (PCL) property market in recent months. While average prices in PCL fell 1.6% in the year to April, they rose 1.2% in prime outer London.

It follows a tough five years since Covid in PCL, where demand was also curbed by the so-called race for space and travel restrictions.

Average prices in PCL in April fell 3% in the five years since the pandemic began, while prices in POL rose by 8%.

For some overseas buyers, that will look like a buying opportunity, with or without an investor visa.