FIG leaf
SIR – I read with interest the results of your 2024 Tax Survey and, in particular, how non-doms and their advisers were getting ready for Rachel Reeves’ first Budget.
Now the dust has settled, clients are facing the consequences of the reforms. As a private wealth lawyer for HNW and UHNW families, I see many being forced to make plans to leave the UK and explore alternative tax regimes.
For those incoming, a key question is whether the new four-year FIG regime will attract the global talent and the inward investment that the government desperately seeks. There is concern that the UK will not compete with other jurisdictions on this.
[See also: A Labour olive branch to non-doms?]
Related
However, the new regime should address some of the remarks in your article about the outdated nature of the current system, which is welcome.
There was a sprinkling of good news for some in the decisions not to introduce a wealth tax, exit tax or align CGT rates with income tax. But these are merely the silver linings in a fairly gloomy Budget for many.
Moving stories
SIR – As a family lawyer, I read your article ‘New regime, new taxes?‘ with interest.
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Changes to the non-dom rules, the imposition of VAT on private school fees and increases to CGT risk making the UK not only a less attractive jurisdiction for wealthy individuals, but also an unaffordable one for the less wealthy. I have clients who are in the process of leaving the UK as a result of the impending changes, as it is no longer affordable for them to remain living here.
These changes could cause issues for parents of children who are settled in the UK, who face the invidious choice of uprooting their children from a country they consider to be their home – or living a separate life thousands of miles from their children.
The extent to which the government has considered the impact of the proposed fiscal changes on such children is unclear.
Nicholas Westley, Harbottle & Lewis
X factors
SIR – Paulina Bren’s column about the ‘she-wolves’ of Wall Street who made their way in the Fifties and Sixties serves as a prompt to consider the wealth management industry’s relationship with women in the present day.
Still, in 2025, there are marketing campaigns that treat ‘women’s wealth’ as a distinct segment. Unfortunately, the implication can be that it is somewhat surprising when women do indeed hold significant wealth.
Do we need more marketing initiatives like these, or should we focus instead on systemic change? The good news is that women are and will continue to hold an increasing share of the world’s wealth. But as its client base changes, will the industry keep up?
I believe that the tools and answers to do this will be found should more women be enabled and encouraged to sustain careers within the industry. However, long after the she-wolves of Wall Street first made their mark, there is still much to be done.
Lottie Leefe, The Dura Society
Culture shift
SIR – Your interview with Charles Stewart, CEO of Sotheby’s, shares insights into the art market which reflect my own experience as an art lawyer.
Chief among these are perhaps the following three: first, the interconnectedness of the art market, and the fact that even the big names of the auction world ultimately experience the same challenges, and are subject to the same economic and political uncertainties, as the wider art market; second, that, despite the resurgence of online sales, the business of buying and selling art remains primarily a people business which thrives on direct personal interaction and shared experiences; and, third, the perception of the main future development including the growing significance of the Middle East for the international art market, and the shifting focus to the next generation of collectors (and their different collecting habits and interests) as part of what has become known as the ‘great generational wealth transfer‘.
Gregor Kleinknecht, MEUM Group
Contact us
To submit a letter for publication in Spear’s, please email alice.coleman@spearswms.com. All correspondence will be considered for publication unless otherwise stated.
These letters first appeared in Spear’s Magazine Issue 94. Click here to subscribe
