Macfarlanes, Withers and Charles Russell have joined forces to lobby against proposed government legislation that could see non-domiciled UK residents paying an annual levy of £30,000 once they have lived in the country for seven years.
Partners from the firms’ private client groups have teamed up with professional organisations including the Society of Trust & Estate Practitioners (STEP) to campaign against the planned crackdown on non-domiciled foreigners with overseas income living in the country.
They have held discussions with the Treasury and HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) about the changes, which they argue contain loopholes that will make it difficult to advise clients effectively.
Withers partner Judith Ingham, who is also chairman of the technical committee at STEP, said: “We are concerned about how the Treasury is doing it and whether it will cause more anomalies. Tidying it up is fair.”
“We are in the eye of the storm at the moment,” said Macfarlanes private client partner, Piers Barclay, “but it is almost impossible to tell what will happen.”
Ingham, who is currently advising 70 clients on the tax changes, said: “We have been asking HMRC not to rush for April 2008, but to wait until April 2009. If they rush the changes, there will be more loopholes.”
There are more than 100,000 non-domiciled individuals living in the UK who, under the current rules, are able to avoid paying tax on income earned abroad.
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