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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/21038_3253-BNP-Edmund-Shing-head.jpg\")
\t\tEdmund Shing said a wealth tax could be seen as a retrograde step\t<\/p>\n
The chief investment officer at BNP Paribas Wealth Management has become the latest senior banker to warn over plans to introduce a wealth tax in the UK, describing the move a \u201cdangerous road to go down.\u201d<\/p>\n
In an interview with City AM, Edmund Shing said the move was likely to discourage entrepreneurs from starting a business in the UK, a move which could dampen the country\u2019s long-term growth prospects.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn most countries, the movement has been away from a wealth tax rather than towards a wealth tax\u2026and it seems to me that it is seen more and more as a retrograde step to move back to a naked wealth tax, because it does unfortunately discourage entrepreneurs,\u201d Shing said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that\u2019s a very dangerous road to go down if you\u2019re talking about long-term wealth generation and growth in the country because it\u2019s not just growth of the economy, it\u2019s a growth of jobs, you need to encourage entrepreneurs in order to encourage job creation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWealth taxes, like capital gains taxes and inheritance tax are disincentives to all of that, so I think it\u2019s something one has to be very careful of.\u201d<\/p>\n
The remarks come amid growing concerns over an exodus of high net worth individuals in the UK following the removal of the tax-advantaged non-dom status, as well as growing fears over the introduction of a wealth tax.<\/p>\n
The recent abolition of the non-dom regime could blow a \u00a34bn hole in the public finances and lead to over 3,000 fewer jobs if a quarter of the country\u2019s wealthy foreigners leave, according to a fresh study<\/a> from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR).\u00a0<\/p>\n Were half the country\u2019s non-doms to leave \u2013 a worst-case scenario \u2013 the figure would be \u00a37.8bn and cost 6,325 jobs. And if just 10 per cent depart \u2013 the Office for Budget Responsibility\u2019s current most likely scenario \u2013 the Exchequer would miss out on \u00a32.8bn; roughly the cost of the recent winter fuel allowance U-turn.<\/p>\n Since Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed she would plough ahead with the reforms, several ultra-high net worth foreigners have left the UK.\u00a0Goldman Sachs executive Richard Gnodde<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal<\/a>\u00a0have both quit as a result of the inheritance tax changes.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n \t\t\tWealth tax: City bosses warn Labour of entrepreneur exodus<\/a><\/p>\n Shing said there had been widespread conversation among high net worth individuals about the tax burden in Britain, but cautioned that comparatively few had left the UK so far.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is always a lot of talk and a lot of thinking [but] it takes a lot to make people move,\u201d Shing said.<\/p>\n \u201cFor those who are entrepreneurs there\u2019s an extra element\u2026not just personal taxation but the treatment of their businesses, particularly thinking about future capital gains or inheritance tax.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a complex question and not just around finance, it\u2019s a personal choice as well. Wealthy families do not jump into it lightly.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Cannot afford\u2019 to scare capital away with wealth taxes<\/p>\n It comes after the boss of Royal Bank of Canada said that increasing the tax burden on the wealthy would \u201c100 per cent\u201d result in people leaving for \u201ca lower tax jurisdiction\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you put in place a 2 per cent asset tax, which is what\u2019s being rumoured, that\u2019s a lot. People would seek out other markets,\u201d Dave McKay told the Financial Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are a number of clients who don\u2019t want to leave \u2014 who are great contributors here to society \u2014 but they have to leave because of the tax burden.<\/p>\n \u201cYou cannot afford to scare capital away\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009[the UK] talks about trying to get rid of red tape, why would you shoot yourself in the foot and go through all that effort to cut red tape only to put an asset tax on?\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n