Britain’s finance minister Rachel Reeves will consider making tax changes to make the country more attractive to high-earners living in the Gulf who have been caught up in the turmoil around the Iran war.
Reeves will use a meeting of global financial policymakers at the International Monetary Fund this week to say Britain is “open for business at a moment when geopolitical risk is reshaping decisions about where people live, invest and build companies,” a Treasury official, who asked not be named, said.
After being accused of chasing away some wealthy people by raising taxes, the government will launch a consultation on the taxation of Limited Liability Companies which has been raised as a concern by people considering moving to the UK.
“The Treasury will consult on options across the tax system to keep the UK’s offer fair and competitive — including targeted reliefs for new arrivals and reforms to the treatment of offshore structure,” the Treasury official said.
Reeves was also due use her trip to Washington to pitch Britain as a “safe-harbour economy” with the government keeping a grip on the public finances and investing in skills and infrastructure and new industries, the official said.
However, in its latest set of economic forecasts, the IMF cut Britain’s economic growth forecast by the most for any large rich economy in 2026 to 0.8% due to the country’s costly exposure to the inflationary impact of the Iran war.
(Writing by William Schomberg, editing by Andy Bruce)
