A hedge-fund billionaire and one of the UK’s richest taxpayers has decided to leave the UK for Greece, the BBC understands.
Chris Rokos plans to open an office in Athens, according to reports. Greece has generous tax rules for wealthy foreigners earning overseas income.
Rokos was ranked third in The Sunday Times list of Britain’s top taxpayers, having paid £330m last year, and in March said he would donate £190m to Cambridge University.
Rokos’s representatives declined to comment. A government spokesperson said: “The UK remains an attractive destination for talent and investment”.
“The chancellor has made wealth creation one of his top priorities,” the spokesperson said, adding that the UK has “a competitive and stable tax system, deep capital markets, world-class universities and a highly skilled workforce”.
It is not publicly known why Rokos has made the decision, which was first reported by Bloomberg, but Greece’s tax-rules are seen as attractive to the ultra-wealthy.
They allow foreigners who meet certain criteria to pay a flat yearly tax of €100,000 (£86,000) on all overseas income.
Rokos’s decision comes ahead of UK Chancellor John Healey’s first Budget on 28 October.
In an interview with the BBC on Monday, Healey did not rule out tax increases in the Budget, with a recent increase in government borrowing costs piling pressure on the public finances.
He refused to comment on any decisions about tax, promising only to “balance the books” and “control public spending”.
