The economic importance of internationally mobile individuals has come to the fore as the latest figures from HMRC show the non-domiciled population has continued to decline while the tax paid by non-doms has risen 9% to £13.6bn.
The findings published today (30 July) show fewer taxpayers flowed out of the non-domiciled taxpayer population than in the 2023-2024 tax year with around 9,000 leaving in 2024-2025 compared with 11,200 the previous year. However, the number of newly arrived non-dom taxpayers also fell, dropping from 10,000 to around 8,600.
Lucy Woodward, private wealth partner at Saffery, said: “Although the number of taxpayers has edged lower, their contribution has continued to grow, underlining the significant economic importance of internationally mobile individuals.
“For these individuals and their families these latest statistics are an important benchmark as they assess the implications of the shift to a residence‑based system.”
Mark Jephcott, senior relationship manager at Utmost, said that while some individuals flowing out of the non-dom population may have become deemed domiciled after living in the UK for more than 15 years, in all likelihood many will also have left the UK.
“We saw non-doms starting to leave straight after the 2024 Autumn Budget with the scrapping of the non-dom regime and the removal of IHT protections on foreign assets,” he said. “The reality is that the UK has become less attractive to globally mobile wealthy individuals following the scrapping of that regime coupled with the ever-increasing scope of inheritance tax.
“This matters because they are the largest contributors to the tax base and once they leave it is very difficult to replace them. Meanwhile, other jurisdictions such as Italy, Switzerland and the UAE are competing aggressively to welcome them through far more attractive regimes, recognising the substantial benefits they bring to their countries and to broadening their tax bases.”
However, Matthew Radcliffe, partner in the private client team at law firm Ruseell-Cooke, said the latest data suggests internationally mobile individual have largely sat tight for now.
“The non-dom population remained broadly unchanged, while both arrivals and departures fell, suggesting many internationally mobile individuals chose to stay put rather than make immediate decisions about relocating,” he said.
"While these figures largely reflect a period before the government's non-dom reforms took effect, they underline the scale of the revenue generated by internationally mobile taxpayers. The focus will now be on whether that stability endures as the new regime beds in and individuals reassess where they choose to live, invest and do business."
