New research STEP published today shows that UK government plans to tax the foreign super-rich will be counter-productive as tax revenues will fall and UK investments will be sold. According to the society over half of the UK’s super wealthy are leaving, making contingency plans to leave or sell their UK investments. “For the first time we can confirm that wealth generators are preparing to leave the UK in significant numbers. We now know wealthy foreigners invest between £75 and £125 billion in the UK and pay £7.16 billion in tax. Instead of generating more revenue the government’s proposals will mean jobs, investments and tax revenue going abroad,” said Keith Johnston, STEP’s Director of Policy, who conducted the study. “The super rich already pay 54 times more tax than the average. We want rich people in the economy, paying tax, and creating jobs but government plans will have the opposite effect,” said David Harvey, chief executive of STEP. It is not only the tax that the UK would lose if government proposals go-ahead as planned. Non-doms spend £16.6 billion in the UK every year – equal to the GDP of Luxembourg. Even more strikingly, resident non-doms surveyed invest over £40 billion in UK businesses and the UK business investments of all non-doms have been estimated at around £125 billion. The current proposals provide an incentive to invest anywhere else. UK resident non-domiciled individuals pay £7.16 billion in tax. STEP research shows that one third of wealthy non-doms are leaving, planning to leave the UK or sell UK investments taking £2.13 billion of tax revenues with them. £2.13 billion in lost revenue is roughly equal to five General Hospitals or 35,000 junior nurses every year. The research was based upon a survey of around 80 top-end London advisors conducted by STEP last week.