Is Ed Miliband really prepared to risk £8.27 billion on an election stunt?

It’s a common assumption that non-doms pay little tax. It’s certainly an assumption made by Ed Miliband, who has announced plans to scrap the non-dom status for long-term residents. ‘There are 116,000 non-doms costing hundreds of millions of pounds to our country. It can no longer be justified and it makes Britain a tax haven for the few,’ he said. But how does Miliband explain the £8.27 billion of income tax and NIC paid by non-doms in 2012-13? The average non-dom claiming the remittance basis pays £132,762 of income tax per annum, 25 times more than the average British tax payer. Whether Miliband likes to admit it or not, non-doms make a significant direct financial contribution to the country. The indirect financial contribution to the country, such as SDLT on property, VAT and spending in the UK, is immeasurable. If you claim non-dom status you can either pay tax on all your income and gains, or claim the ‘remittance basis’ and pay tax on your UK income and gains and on remittances of foreign income and gains to the UK.