Mittal Leaves U.K. as Super-Rich Tax Changes Near
Indian-origin steel magnate Lakshmi N. Mittal, until now based in Britain and a regular on the country’s richest billionaires tally, has decided to quit the U.K. as the Labour Party-led government’s feared tax shake-up for the super-rich nears.
Rajasthan-born Mittal is a resident in Switzerland for tax and will now spend much of his future in Dubai.
The founder of ArcelorMittal steelworks is worth an estimated 15.4 billion pounds as per the 2025 ‘Sunday Times Rich List’, which ranked him the U.K.’s eighth richest man.
According to reports, the 75-year-old industrialist to claim he has become the latest billionaire to leave the U.K. ahead of a much-anticipated Budget by Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
Mittal already has a mansion in Dubai and has now bought up “tracts of an intriguing development on the nearby Naïa Island” in the United Arab Emirates, as per reports.
The news of Mr. Mittal’s exit comes ahead of expected tax rises on the wealthy as Ms. Reeves tries to address a 20 billion pounds hole in the U.K.’s finances.
In her first Budget tabled last year after Labour’s general election win, there were increases to capital gains tax, a reduction of the tax relief for entrepreneurs selling their ventures and new taxes on the way family companies are passed down to future generations.
Rumors of further levies in her second Budget as Chancellor next week, including a possible 20 percent exit tax on those leaving the U.K., have caused much unease among the wealthy.
The issue was inheritance tax. Many wealthy people from overseas cannot understand why all of their assets, wherever they are in the world, should be subject to inheritance tax imposed by the U.K. Treasury. People in this situation feel they have little choice but to leave and are either sad or angry to be doing so,” according to reports.
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While death duties are levied at up to 40 percent in the UK, there is no inheritance tax in Dubai and in Switzerland.
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Mittal’s relocation from the U.K. follows other entrepreneurs, including India-born tech entrepreneur and investor Herman Narula.
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The 37-year-old, who has lived and grown up in England since the age of two, recently revealed his plans to shift to Dubai.