Hundreds of business owners have threatened to leave Britain if Rachel Reeves presses ahead with an expected tax raid in her Budget later this month.
Nearly half of 500 surveyed business owners said they would consider moving their companies overseas if the Chancellor makes big tax rises, according to wealth managers Evelyn Partners.
Toby Tallon, tax partner at Evelyn Partners, said the company is grappling with an influx of queries from worried business owners since Sir Keir Starmer warned in August that the Budget was “going to be painful”.
Mr Tallon said: “They are anxious about what any potential tax changes could mean for them personally and their businesses, with some mulling the option of becoming non-resident.”
Ms Reeves is poised to launch the biggest Budget tax raid in history on Oct 30, with expected tax rises worth a cumulative £35bn. The Chancellor is scrambling to fill a £22bn “black hole” in the public finance, while avoiding real-terms departmental funding cuts.
She is expected to announce a fresh raid on capital gains tax (CGT) and a rise in employer National Insurance rates.