List of people with non-domiciled status in the UK

A person with non-domiciled status, sometimes called a 'non-dom', is a person living in the United Kingdom who is considered under British law to be domiciled (i.e. with their permanent home) in another country. Non-doms pay UK tax to the UK government like all other UK residents. Tax status is determined by residence and domicile; nationality is irrelevant. A British citizen who has established a permanent home abroad may reside for a time in Britain and be taxed as non-domiciled.

Non-domiciled status can either be acquired from one's parents, which is known as a 'domicile of origin', or by abandoning one's domicile of origin and demonstrating the intention to reside outside of the UK indefinitely. According to the official government page, "UK residents who have their permanent home ('domicile') outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income." ^[1]

In the 2012/13 tax year more than 113,000 people in the UK claimed non-dom status. ^[2] The Independent estimated that there were about 116,000 in 2013, an increase of 33,000 since 1997. ^[3]

The issue of non-doms came to public attention in 2010, and led to the passage of Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010, which provided, among other things, that a person not domiciled in the UK could not serve in the House of Lords. Some non-domiciled Lords gave up their seats in order to maintain their tax status. ^[4]

Notable "non-doms"

Prominent non-doms include:

• Roman Abramovich ^{[3] [5]}
• Arpad Busson ^[6]
• James Caan ^{[3] [5]}
• Richard Caring ^[6]
• Mark Carney, former Governor of the Bank of England ^{[7] [8]}
• Sudhir Choudhrie ^[6]
• Sir Ronald Cohen ^[6]
• Ben Goldsmith ^[9]
• Stuart Gulliver, CEO of HSBC ^{[3] [8]}
• Jonathan Harmsworth, 4th Viscount Rothermere ^{[5] [9]}
• António Horta Osório, CEO of Lloyds Banking Group ^{[7] [8]}
• John McFarlane, former Chairman of Barclays ^[7]
• Lakshmi Mittal ^{[3] [5]}
• Akshata Murthy, wife of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ^[10]
• Sir Christopher Ondaatje ^[11]
• Sir Anwar Pervez ^[6]
• David Potter ^{[12] [13]}
• Sigrid Rausing ^[13]
• Doug Richard ^{[14] [5]}
• Pascal Soriot, CEO of AstraZeneca ^[8]
• Mark Wilson

Those who resigned from the House of Lords over the issue include Raj Bagri, Baron Bagri, ^[4] Baroness Lydia Dunn, ^[4] Norman Foster, ^[9] Lord Laidlaw ^{[6] [15]} and Alistair McAlpine, Baron McAlpine of West Green. ^[16]

Former "non-doms"

• Zac Goldsmith - Pressured by David Cameron into giving up the non-domiciled status he acquired from his father ^[6]
• Jemima Goldsmith ^[13]
• Sir Gulam Noon - gave up non-domiciled status in order to become assistant Treasurer to the Labour party ^[6]
• Lord Paul - gave up non-dom status in 2010 to retain seat in the House of Lords ^[9]

Lord Ashcroft ^[6] was arguably the most prominent of these. After some publicity and political pressure, in 2010 he gave up his non-dom status in order to stay in the House of Lords. However, in 2015 he retired as a working peer, which the Financial Times pointed out would allow him to "revive his non-domiciled tax status". ^[17]

References

1. "Tax on foreign income". Gov.uk. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
2. Ball, James (7 April 2015). "Non-dom status: living and working in the UK, without paying all your tax in the UK". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
3. Morris, Nigel (7 April 2015). "General Election 2015: British residents who do not pay tax on overseas earnings will be stripped of 'non-dom' status, says Miliband". The Independent. Archived from the original on 10 April 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
4. "Four non-dom peers quit Lords - Westminster". Politics.co.uk. 6 July 2010. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
5. Savage, Rachel (8 April 2015). "Ditching non-doms may lose the UK money - but it's the right thing to do". Management Today. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
6. "Non-dom donors: who has given money to which parties?". The Guardian. 8 April 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
7. Donnellan, Aimee. "Labour non-dom threat hits RBS, Barclays, Lloyds — and Carney". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 12 April 2015. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
8. "Scrapping non-dom tax status would hit bank chiefs". The Daily Telegraph. 12 April 2015. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
9. Garside, Juliette (8 April 2015). "Miliband's abolition: Many have tried to close non-dom loophole – all have failed". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
10. Isaac, Anna (6 April 2022). "Revealed: Rishi Sunak's millionaire wife avoids tax through non-dom status". The Independent.
11. Will Woodward and Jason Rodrigues. "The major non-dom donors for the Conservatives and Labour. As a spreadsheet | News". Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
12. "Brown forced to close tax loophole after 'Mittalgate'". The Independent. independent.co.uk. 9 February 2017. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
13. Leigh, David (11 February 2015). "HSBC files reveal how UK's non-dom tax concession is being exploited". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
14. Sheffield, Hazel (8 April 2015). "Non-doms: who they are and why Labour wants to scrap their tax privileges". The Independent. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
15. "Tory donor Lord Ashcroft gives up non-dom tax status". BBC. 7 July 2010. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
16. "Ministers and monarchy pass buck on 'non-doms'". The Independent. independent.co.uk. 9 February 2017. Retrieved 9 February 2017. For Lord retirement lists see also "Tory donor Lord Ashcroft gives up non-dom tax status". BBC News. 7 July 2010.
17. Pickard, Jim (31 March 2015). "Lord Ashcroft retires from House of Lords" . Financial Times.