UK wealth tax sparks millionaire exodus, Taxfix CEO urges staying put

Martin Ott, CEO of the billion-dollar tax-app Taxfix, says some high-net-worth UK residents are considering moving abroad as the government debates a 2% wealth levy, but he advises them to remain and invest locally.

Britain’s millionaire population has slipped to a two-decade low, a shift attributed to Labour’s tax agenda and lingering inflation. As Prime Minister Andy Burnham contemplates a 2% levy on wealth exceeding £10 million, fears of a capital flight have resurfaced. Martin Ott, the former Meta executive who now runs Berlin-based Taxfix, tells Fortune that some of the firm’s high-income UK customers are looking abroad to preserve wealth, but he personally counsels them to stay.

Ott frames staying as a “social responsibility,” warning that a mass departure would erode the supportive network that nurtures new founders and employment opportunities. He points to friends who could easily relocate to places like Dubai or Montenegro yet opt to remain and invest in the UK. Drawing on his own experience navigating the 2008 financial crisis, Ott emphasizes resilience and the long-term benefits of weathering economic cycles. The Henley Private Wealth Migration Report 2025 recorded roughly 16,500 millionaires leaving the UK last year, a 9% decline over the past decade, underscoring the scale of the trend.