Yusuf’s in a muddle…
Reform’s Zia Yusuf endured a car crash interview on the BBC, while trying to explain exactly how his party’s latest non-dom policy would work and whether it would apply to non-doms already in the UK.
Nigel Farage has unveiled his plan for tax cuts for the wealthy, to restore non-dom tax breaks for the super-rich, in exchange for a ‘Britannia card’ worth £250,000 each, as part of a special tax regime.
Farage likes to portray himself as a ‘man of the people’, and yet his priority is to help the super-rich. He has unveiled plans to give a “Britannia Card” to wealthy foreigners who move to Britain in exchange for the one-off fee.
In return, they would enjoy so-called “non-dom” status, which allows them to avoid paying tax in the UK on their overseas earnings – a policy which was scrapped by Labour.
Farage and Reform say that the funds raised through charging the super-rich £250,000 each for the Britannia card would then be redistributed to around 2.5 million workers on low incomes.
Yusuf appeared on the BBC’s politicslive programme to answer questions about his party’s policy and was asked if it would apply to non-doms already in the UK who are paying tax.
Yusuf replied: “So what we’re saying is that we’re going to invite those people back here, we’re going to charge them upfront a quarter of a million pounds to get started and we’re going to send that money directly to the 2.5 million people who are grafting hardest for the least.”
He was then asked: “So the non-doms who haven’t left, they won’t be able to do this?”
A confused looking Yusuf replied: “It depends what you’re talking about. So it’s not going to be available to British residents. If you are a non-dom in…so if you’re a non-dom who’s already here, you’ve got to remember these people are already fleeing…”
Yusuf was then reminded that lots of non-doms haven’t fled, to which he simply replied: “Well a lot of them are…”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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