Billionaire Tech Founder Guillaume Pousaz Quits UK For Monaco Over Non-Dom Crackdown

Billionaire swiss entrepreneur and founder of Checkout.com, one of Britain’s top fintechs, Guillaume Pousaz, has quit the UK for Monaco, becoming the latest high net worth foreigner to move from the country following the British government’s crackdown on non-doms.

Guillaume Pousaz, who founded payments firm Checkout.com in 2012, changed his country of residence to Monaco in April, according to Companies House filings, to avoid the changes made by British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves to the non-dom regime.

As a result, Pousaz, who is worth an estimated £6bn, is the latest in the growing ranks of ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNWIs) leaving Britain to more tax-friendly jurisdictions.

Last month, Richard Gnodde, Goldman Sachs’ most senior banker outside of the US, had relocated to Milan. Aston Villa co-owner Nassef Sariwis and steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal have also both made preparations to leave the UK since Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced plans to abolish the non-dom status.

Abolishment of Non-dom regime

In her maiden Budget, Rachel Reeves had pressed ahead with her re-election plans to abolish the non-dom status, a 200-year-old tax regime that allowed wealthy foreigners to live in the UK and only pay tax on British-based income and assets.

The Chancellor also tightened up rules on non-dom and former non-dom-owned foreign-held trusts, meaning they were now liable to UK taxes like inheritance tax.

This new legislation did not go down well with a lot of High net worth individuals prompting them to leave the UK to more favorable jurisdictions.