Millionaire “exodus” claim backtracked but media re-run story anyway – Tax Justice Network
Millionaire “exodus” claim backtracked but media re-run story anyway
Posted by FlyWayOrDaHighway
Millionaire “exodus” claim backtracked but media re-run story anyway – Tax Justice Network
Millionaire “exodus” claim backtracked but media re-run story anyway
Posted by FlyWayOrDaHighway
15 Comments
**Henley & Partners backtrack on claim of a “millionaire exodus” after investigation reveales under 0.5% of millionaires are leaving the country, despite the claim’s heavy media coverage**
A non-existent millionaire exodus is being widely reported in the news again today, despite the authors of the claim backtracking on it following recent criticism by tax justice campaigners.
The media coverage is primarily based on a report published by Henley & Partners, a firm that sells golden passports to the superrich and advises governments on setting up such schemes. The European Court of Justice recently ruled one such scheme, that of Malta, to be unlawful.
Over 10,900 news pieces across print, broadcast and online news were published in 2024 covering Henley & Partner’s claims.
The Tax Justice Network’s review of the Henley report – co-published earlier this month with Patriotic Millionaires UK and Tax Justice UK – finds that the number of millionaires claimed by Henley & Partners to be leaving countries in “exodus” in 2024 represented near-0% of those countries’ millionaire populations.
Reviewing the new figures from Henley & Partners today reveals the same conclusions.
The “record-number” of 142,000 millionaires that the Henley report claims are leaving countries in 2025 once again represent just 0.2% of the global millionaire population (60 million).
More in the article (non-paywalled).
Tax Justice Network gets a ‘A’ for transparency from Open democracys ‘Who funds who’ transparency list, the highest you can get.
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/who-funds-you/
And rated ‘Highly Transparent’ on https://www.transparify.org/
Wikipedia say its a ‘British advocacy group[2] consisting of a coalition of researchers and activists with a shared concern about tax avoidance, tax competition, and tax havens.[3]’
A respectable think tank.
It’s just annoying how so many ordinary people seem so desperate to parrot the bullshit in the comment sections, when it so clearly works against their interests
I’m not saying taxing the rich effectively is easy to do, but Christ, why are do so many people think we should give up at the first hurdle?
Given they pay relatively low levels of tax, would we miss them?
Is the penny finally dropping with people that the lion share of the media is not on the side of the majority of people.
Not this again. The definitions of “millionaire” are completely different and there is nothing in this article which dispels the figures reported by Henley.
Tax Justice Network has an angle. So, the data is being used to prove a point.
Wait for HMRC to tell us all how much tax they raised and from what sources.
We should attract billionaires and corporations like Ireland does, so the real test is how many we attracted not how many we scared away
Because it’s not meant to be true, it’s meant to induce certain emotions in society.
Its funny…. people on universal benefits would still be against a tax that would make their lives better and only affect people with more than £10 million.
Turkeys voting for Christmas.
Im sure its been said however we just need to tax the rich in literally any way and loosen the shackles of the rest of us (the people) for a bit. Put that money into services (NHS and actually having money to sort illegal immigration) and lowering taxes for those of us struggling.
Find out what actually happens with threats on if they will be empty or not then start negotiating taxes that are fair and just for the country and move from there. Stop catering to them just because you’re scared of change, something has to otherwise we will all suffer.
Here’s the problem with the rich (+£10M)…
In the past, wealthy people often reinvested in the areas where they lived. They would still make huge profits, but some of that money went into local infrastructure, culture, and services, which improved life for everyone.
Today, with globalisation and more flexible tax rules, it is easier for them to base their businesses or assets abroad while still living in the UK. This allows them to reduce their tax bills while benefiting from everything the UK offers. The result is wealth being taken out of local areas without much being put back.
The focus should be on taxing assets that cannot be moved, such as property, land, and certain investments, so that the communities they live in still see some return. So tax the shit out of them on stuff like this.
The recent data is based on PAYE submissions. Which can be instructive, but won’t give the whole picture as many rich people are not on PAYE.
Lets wait until the tax returns come in and are analysed before making any judgements. Otherwise, the conclusions being reached are little better than those based on a dodgy survey.
There needs to be a multi-faceted plan to handle the countries finances. Taxing wealth – and probably non-moveable wealth (ie LVT) – of “the rich” should be part of it, IMO, but it won’t solve everything in one fell swoop.
We also need to cut expenses …
– That the recent attempt to remove the winter fuel allowance from the richest pensioners was batted away is an absolute travesty.
– The triple lock also needs to go – it’s simply not affordable.
– I have no idea how you make the NHS cost less money but it has an insane budget
– Benefits need to be structured in such a way that people who can work are encouraged to work
Stopping the likes of Starbucks shifting all their profits to other tax regimes would help, too.
I have long argued it’s a load of bullshit. This is one of the best countries on earth to live, despite its flaws and current struggles. We have culture, experiences, architecture, great countryside, first world amenities, and all sorts of other things that will ensure rich people will always want to live here.
Not everyone wants to just up sticks and jet off to another country different to the one they’ve known for the sake of a bit of extra taxes. Some will, and fuck them. The great thing about capitalism is there’s always someone else out there to replace them and fill whatever void they leave behind.