Martin Wolf is on as great form as ever. This article says it all. In particular, it points out the weakness of the argument that somehow the rich (foreigners) are different. That they will somehow desert the country if the non-dom loophole is close, even though (i) domiciled rich Brits do not desert the country and (ii) the home countries, such as the USA, or non-doms have no such loopholes.
Predictably the responses to this article have been absurd, such as this one, written by a Mr David A Randall. In it he argues that the obscenely rich are about to become some kind of persecuted minority. He writes "Many a minority group in history has found its plight ridiculed by those whipped up by propaganda and envy, then deprived of its rights, and this behaviour has led us into barbarity." I am no socialist, but the idea that private equity barons will be afraid to leave their homes at night is laughable.
Similarly, some non-doms have asked: what has the British government ever done for us? We do not use its lousy state-run schools or hospitals. We do not expect a British state pension and certainly do not want one. We do not expect to receive any of the benefits showered on the UK underclass. So why should we pay taxes? You should be grateful for our brilliant presence.Yet this argument, too, cannot be limited to non-doms. The same argument can be made by wealthy British people. The upper 10th of UK income earners surely provide the largest lifetime net contribution to taxation, because they pay the highest taxes and make least use of state benefits. So why should they pay tax? Maybe nobody should pay tax on incomes above, say, £100,000 a year.
