Brits Flee Onerous Taxes; Switzerland Tempts

A 50 percent income tax on top earners is causing a wave of human capital flight from merry olde England:

Swiss government officials and Geneva-based financial advisers have come to London to lure rich residents with glowing descriptions of the country’s low taxes, safe streets, private-banking options and convenient ski weekends. “We are here to make it easier for you to come to Switzerland,” says Martin Meyer, head of economic development for the Swiss canton of Valais, which borders Lake Geneva, Bloomberg Markets reports in its June issue…

Fed-up financial professionals say they’re ready to quit the U.K. because of a lethal combination of high taxes, looming European regulation and public anger toward bankers following taxpayer rescues of some of Britain’s biggest lenders. London’s highest earners must now pay a 50 percent tax on incomes above 150,000 pounds ($227,200) that came into force on April 6, replacing a 40 percent top rate…

As the taxman’s take grows larger, Switzerland is shaping up as the most-welcoming alternative for British exiles. Light- touch regulation and the willingness of cantons, as regional governments are called, to negotiate special tax rates for both individuals and businesses have prompted at least 30 London hedge fund managers to consider moving to Geneva in the past year, says Shelby du Pasquier, a Geneva-based partner at Lenz & Staehelin, a Swiss law firm.

Investment management and advisory services aren’t regulated in Switzerland, apart from anti-money laundering rules, and the federal government and several cantons last year reduced taxes on dividend payments for entrepreneurs, including owners of hedge fund firms, he says…

Read the whole thing. Hat tip, Dan Mitchell