Bharti Airtel founder Sunil Mittal’s son has moved from Britain to the United Arab Emirates amid rising taxes on wealthy individuals in the United Kingdom.
Shravin Bharti Mittal, the top shareholder in UK telecommunications giant BT Group Plc, currently lists the United Arab Emirates as his residence after previously listing the UK, according to a report by Bloomberg News citing registry filings. BT Group holds 24.5% of one of Britain’s telecommunications networks.
Last month, he established the Abu Dhabi branch for an investment firm, Unbound, founded in London, the report said citing other filings.
Who else has relocated from UK?
Apart from Mittal, Egypt’s richest person, Nassef Sawiris, has moved to Abu Dhabi as well as Italy. Members of the billionaire Lazari dynasty, including Leonidas and Nicholas, who own several properties in London, are now living in Cyprus.
Tax regime in UK
The latest development shows how some of the world’s richest individuals are leaving the UK after the introduction of tax reforms for wealthy non-domiciled residents. It also affects the British government’s goal to attract top global talent, which is a part of Keir Starmer Labour government’s measures to improve the UK’s immigration system.
The Conservative government in March 2024 suspended the preferential tax policy for non-domiciled wealthy individuals that permitted them to avoid taxes in the UK on overseas earnings for almost 15 years. This was replaced with a shorter timeframe. However, after winning the UK election in July, Labour Party’s Chancellor Rachel Reeves eliminated inheritance tax breaks on non-domiciled individuals’ overseas assets, prompting many of them to leave Britain.
These tax reforms may significantly impact the revenue of the UK government if a quarter of its nearly 74,000 non-domiciled individuals relocate, the report said citing a study from the Centre for Economics and Business Research.
About Shravin Mittal
Shravin Mittal began his career in London over ten years ago. He studied accounting and finance at the University of Bath and worked at JPMorgan Chase & Co. as an investment banking analyst, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Mittal subsequently worked at a private equity firm in London and later assumed the role of managing director at the investment division of New Delhi-based Bharti Enterprises, established by his father. The company specialises in sectors such as finance, real estate, and hospitality.
(With inputs from Bloomberg)