Higher Earners: Emigration

Lord Leigh of Hurley Excerpts

Thursday 21st May 2026 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Leigh of Hurley]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of individuals earning more than £100,000 per annum who left the country in 2025.

[The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Lord Livermore) (Lab)]

My Lords, not all taxpayers are required to notify HMRC when they leave the country. As such, the Government do not hold comprehensive data on the number of individuals leaving the UK by income level. The Government are committed to ensuring that the UK remains a competitive and attractive location for internationally mobile talent and investment. We continue to support growth through a competitive tax framework and a world-leading business environment.

[Lord Leigh of Hurley (Con)]

The Minister is right: HMRC has no idea of the number of people who have left the country with a high income. The Chartered Institute of Taxation and I have tried to find the information, but it does not exist. However, most helpfully, the Sunday Times last Sunday looked at people on the Companies House database who have told Companies House that they are leaving the country. It estimates that as few as one in six and as many as one in three of the people on the Sunday Times wealth list have left the country. Can the Minister explain why he thinks that is and how this helps the growth agenda?

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

As the noble Lord says, the data is not available, so I am not sure that he can make the conclusions that he seeks to make. The data will not be available until we have the January 2027 self-assessment data, which is the most reliable data. The costings that were certified by the OBR for the previous Government’s and this Government’s reforms account for a potential behavioural response. They factor in an assumed level of migration from non-doms, just as they did for the previous government reforms. The OBR has said that there is no evidence to change the estimated impact of the reforms on migration. This has always been a highly mobile population. For example, in 2023-24, there were 9,100 arrivals and 9,500 leavers, so the noble Lord knows that this is nothing new. The reforms to the tax treatment of non-doms have been designed specifically to make the UK competitive, with a modern, simple tax regime that is also fair.