Billionaire Christian Angermayer slams UK tax system, moves to Swiss crypto hub

Odaily News Bitcoin holder and billionaire investor Christian Angermayer left the UK for a cryptocurrency center in Switzerland because of Britain's plan to increase taxes on the offshore wealth of high-net-worth residents. In addition to Bitcoin, Angermayer has also invested in Samara Asset Group, a cryptocurrency-focused company, and Northern Data AG, a Bitcoin mining company. He said in a statement that he moved from London to the city of Lugano this month. It is reported that in Lugano, individuals and companies can settle bills with Bitcoin or USDT. Angermayer, 46, is a German who has lived in the UK for the past 10 years. He has also considered moving to New York and Dubai. During his time in the UK, he was a so-called non-dom, according to a person familiar with the matter. This status allows him to avoid paying overseas income and revenue taxes to the UK for up to 15 years. Applicants can initially enjoy preferential treatment for free, but if they continue to live in the UK under the current system, they will eventually face annual fees of 60,000 pounds ($80,000). “Every non-dom I know has left or is about to leave,” Angermayer said. “The planned changes to the non-dom framework are a huge mistake,” calling it “probably a bigger act of national self-harm than Brexit.” In March, the then Conservative government bowed to pressure to require non-UK residents to pay tax on foreign income after four years of residence in the UK, rather than the current 15 years. But Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party wants to go further, promising before its landslide election victory in July to scrap inheritance tax relief for assets held in overseas trusts. (Bloomberg)