Labour's tax plans cause wealthy Britons to flee to Florida

Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer with Rachel Reeves, shadow chancellor Photo: Heathcliff O'Malley for The Telegraph

Among emigration options for the rich British residents are Monaco, which has no income tax and applies inheritance tax only to assets in the country, and the Cayman Islands, which does not tax foreigners at all.

Florida has become one of the emigration options for wealthy Britons.

Florida has become one of the emigration options for wealthy Britons. the most popular US states for wealthy expats due to low taxes, warm climate and quality services.

In the first quarter of this year, 10,000 New Yorkers moved to Florida, and in 2022, 50,000 moved there from California.

Mr Lesperance said British expats were following the example of wealthy Americans.

“They do it the way Jeff Bezos does it,” he said. “They're not going to move to Washington state or New York. They move to Florida or Texas, where there are no state taxes.”

This week Bezos, the £132 billion founder of Amazon, announced he was moving to the so-called “Billionaire Bunker” in the US. Indian Creek, off the coast of Miami.

A combination of financial and lifestyle advantages

The influx of wealthy immigrants has led to a sharp increase in demand for expensive real estate in the state.

Ryan Skrzypkowsk, a Mansfield real estate agent based in Sarasota, Fla., says wealthy Britons are drawn to the combination of finance and lifestyle. benefits.

“From a tax point of view, not just for coming here from the UK, but from the US in general, it's just fantastic,” he said. “There is no state income tax or estate tax. It's just good condition.»

In Palm Beach, an upscale area north of Miami, sales of properties priced over $1 million rose 30.8 percent over the past year. Almost half of buyers in the area paid cash for their homes last month.

David Beckham, who is now part owner of Inter Miami football club, also owns a £17 million penthouse in central Miami.< /p>

While the number of super-rich immigrants is growing, the state has also seen a decline in the number of middle-class Britons moving from the UK as property prices have risen since the pandemic.

Many people who bought properties to rent on Airbnb have since sold them and returned to the UK, and around 20 British pubs in the Miami area have closed in the last five years.

< p> Instead, higher class British restaurants emerged, catering to a wealthier clientele. Gordon Ramsay opened a new Hell's Kitchen restaurant in Miami last month, and Richard Caring, owner of London restaurant Sexy Fish, opened a new branch in the city last year.