Wealthy Britons who relocated to low-tax Middle Eastern countries such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to avoid the UK's tightened taxation on overseas income are now heading home, citing "Regrexit"—regret over their departure—in the wake of the U.S.-Iran war.
According to the Financial Times on Tuesday, an estimated 30,000 Britons left the UAE in April. Compared with the roughly 240,000 British residents and tourists in the country before tensions escalated in February, this means one in eight left as the fallout from the war intensified. The UK Prime Minister's Office said 92,000 British nationals returned home from the Middle East, including the UAE, between the outbreak of the war and March 16.
The term "Regrexit," originally coined to describe regret over the UK's departure from the European Union (EU), is now being used to describe the situation of wealthy expatriates reconsidering their decision to leave the country.
An exodus of wealthy Britons had been underway. The Labour government's decision in 2024 to abolish the non-domiciled (non-dom) tax regime tightened fiscal pressure. Previously, UK residents who declared a permanent residence abroad could avoid UK taxation on income and capital gains earned overseas, but the abolition of the system prompted a wave of departures among high-profile figures. These include Nikolay Storonsky, founder of Revolut, which has a corporate valuation of $75 billion (110 trillion won); steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, chairman of ArcelorMittal; and Petra Ecclestone, the younger daughter of the Formula One (F1) founder. The UAE, which levies no personal income tax, emerged as the ideal destination.
The shift in the Middle East's geopolitical landscape, however, has changed the calculus. "Despite the clear tax disadvantages, the uncertainty in the Middle East has made life unbearable," said Frederick Bjorn of law firm Payne Hicks Beach. Not all Britons leaving the UAE, however, are returning home, as doing so would revive tax liabilities on assets sold abroad. CNBC reported that wealthy British expatriates who left the UAE are waiting out the conflict in Switzerland, Spain, and Portugal.
