Reports indicating that Chancellor John Healey will reject further Capital Gains Tax (CGT) increases ahead of the upcoming UK Autumn Budget 2026 mark a crucial recognition of macroeconomic reality: tax policy must account for how internationally mobile investors actually behave, rather than simply what higher rates promise on paper.

Treasury sources cited across major national media indicate that the Chancellor has concluded higher CGT rates risk depressing overall revenue by encouraging wealthy individuals to delay asset sales, defer domestic capital deployment, or relocate assets to competing foreign jurisdictions.

Commenting on the developments of the upcoming UK Autumn Budget 2026, Leslie MacLeod-Miller, Chief Executive Officer of Foreign Investors for Britain (FIFB), noted:

“This is precisely the point FIFB has made since proposals to remove non-domiciled tax protections for foreign income and assets were first introduced: a higher statutory tax charge does not automatically yield higher Treasury receipts. If investors delay transactions, relocate, or choose alternative jurisdictions, anticipated revenues simply do not materialize. Britain must take behavioral responses and international competition seriously.” (UK Autumn Budget 2026)

From Fiscal Vulnerability to Pro-Growth Policy

The UK Autumn Budget 2026 faces criticism for struggling to present a cohesive, predictable strategy for long-term economic growth. While ministers have repeatedly championed economic expansion, regulatory shifts and tax instability have risked making the United Kingdom less attractive for global wealth creators, entrepreneurs, and single-family offices.

Independent modeling commissioned by FIFB from Oxford Economics underscores the fiscal risks of uncompetitive tax policies. Previous research demonstrated that unmitigated tax changes could prompt a 32% reduction in the UK’s non-domiciled investor population, potentially resulting in a net loss of up to £1 billion per year for the Exchequer when accounting for lost indirect tax contributions, including Value Added Tax (VAT), Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT), and primary corporate investment.

The international landscape for mobile wealth has broadened dramatically. Jurisdictions such as Italy (offering its established flat-tax regime), Greece, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates actively compete for international enterprise capital.

“Of course those with the broadest shoulders should contribute more,” MacLeod-Miller added. “But the broadest shoulders often have the longest legs. Recognizing that capital can leave is only the first step. Giving high-value enterprise a genuine reason to choose Britain is the next.”

The Global Investor Visa: A Contractual Bargain for Prosperity in the UK Autumn Budget 2026

To turn fiscal pragmatism into a proactive offer for national growth ahead of the UK Autumn Budget 2026, FIFB urges the Chancellor to adopt its proposed Global Investor Visa (GIV) framework.

Engineered as a modern, integrity-based replacement for the former Tier 1 (Investor) Visa and the short-term four-year Foreign Income and Gains (FIG) tax holiday, the Global Investor Visa replaces policy uncertainty with a stable, 15-tax-year contractual framework.

Key Features of the Global Investor Visa Proposal:

• Direct Capital Commitment: A minimum Year 1 qualifying investment of £2.5 million deployed into active UK productive assets, green energy transitions, technology scale-ups, life sciences, or regional venture funds.
• Predictable Annual Exchequer Revenue: A recurring, non-refundable annual fee of £200,000 paid directly to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) for each year under the regime.
• Statutory Tax Protections: Complete exemption on qualifying Foreign Income and Gains (FIG) alongside Inheritance Tax (IHT) safeguards for genuinely overseas assets during active participation.
• Nationality-Neutral Access: Open to new arrivals, returning non-doms, returning British Citizens, and holders of Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) without requiring a visa route for those already possessing a right to reside.
• Strict Integrity & Governance: Robust annual enhanced due diligence (EDD) checks administered by an independent panel under full HMRC oversight.

FIFB estimates that the Global Investor Visa framework could mobilize over £225 billion in total economic value over ten years, expanding the broader UK tax base while channeling private capital into critical national priorities such as housing, infrastructure, and regional development.

Architecting Britain’s Economic Future

As Parliament prepares for the Chancellor’s UK Autumn Budget 2026, the choice facing Treasury policymakers is clear: continue with short-term, punitive tax changes that drive mobile wealth offshore, or introduce predictable, competitive frameworks that lock in long-term enterprise capital.

“The answer is not to abandon fair taxation,” MacLeod-Miller concluded. “It is to design a competitive framework that secures investment, creates high-skilled jobs, and strengthens the public revenues available for national priorities. The Chancellor’s reported CGT decision recognizes the risk. The Global Investor Visa offers the practical response. Bring investment in. Keep enterprise here. Give prosperity a reason to choose Britain.”

Read FIFB UK Autumn Budget 2026 Press Release, 20 October 2026

Photo credits: The Chancellor with the Budget box. The Chancellor Jeremy Hunt walks outside Downing Street with the Budget box. Photo by Zara Farrar / HM Treasury on Flickr (UK Autumn Budget 2026)

A House of Lords evening reception sponsored by Conservative peer Baroness Mobarik on behalf of Foreign Investors for Britain brought together cross-party politicians, peers, and senior business figures to challenge the government regarding its proposed non-dom tax reforms.

Event Highlights

• Host & Sponsor: Sponsored by Baroness Mobarik for Foreign Investors for Britain.
• Key Attendees: Included cross-party MPs, peers, and prominent business leaders such as Sir Martin Sorrell.
• Core Topic: International investors used the platform to critique and lobby against changes to the non-domiciled tax regime.
• Notable Absence: Government advisers and officials largely did not attend despite invitations.

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‘Don’t Tell Me You Love Me, Show Me’: Investors Challenge Government on Non-Dom Reform

By Tom Bill at Knight Frank

A House of Lords event last week underlined growing disquiet over the government’s non-dom tax reforms. But any new direction on policy may have to wait until the autumn.

A House of Lords reception last Monday provided the government with a perfect opportunity to read the room on its non-dom reforms.

But it’s hard to read the room when you’re not in it.

Sponsored by Conservative peer Baroness Mobarik on behalf of Foreign Investors for Britain, the evening event drew cross-party MPs and peers, alongside senior business leaders including Sir Martin Sorrell. Regrettably, despite having been invited, government advisers and officials were largely absent.

“Before the election, the government said it wanted to partner with the private sector,” he told Knight Frank. “Well, to paraphrase Eliza Doolittle, don’t tell me you love me, show me.”

Had they attended, they would have heard two key messages:

1. The new rules need tweaking.
2. A flat-tax, similar to the one used in Italy, could ease pressure on government finances while attracting overseas investment.

Under the previous regime, non-doms could live in this country without paying UK tax on their overseas wealth. The new rules impose a residence-based framework with a four-year time limit and a proposal to charge inheritance tax (IHT) on global assets.

As a result, wealthy investors have already begun to leave the UK, depriving the government of capital gains tax revenue. There is also evidence that a number of UK company directors are moving abroad and Knight Frank recently calculated the government has lost more than £400 million in stamp duty revenue due to subdued activity in high-value property markets.

Real-World Consequences

It’s hard to imagine the government planned this, and the non-dom changes were actually set in motion by the previous Conservative administration, but such real-world consequences are difficult to ignore.

“Migration is assumed to be a significant behavioural response for non-domiciled taxpayers,” the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said in a report this month that set out its assumptions for the UK economy. It was a marked shift in tone from the more circumspect language used in previous reports.

Ignoring what the room is saying will become increasingly difficult for the government, especially when its financial headroom is so tight, as we have previously explored. It may explain recent media stories alluding to a possible re-think around IHT.

James Quarmby, a partner in the private wealth team at law firm Stephenson Harwood, believes the government may tweak the IHT rules to make them more generous. The balancing act, he says, is to encourage inward investment while not doing “anything that will look like tax cuts for millionaires.”

Proposals for a Wealth Tax face similar real-world hurdles. Although, reports suggest the government appreciates such a tax would also trigger a “behavioural response”, to use the OBR’s euphemism.

Read the full article