Just over a month ago, Dubai was the obvious destination for wealthy Britons in search of a new home. Few cities allow you to earn vast sums tax-free and spend them across any number of luxury hotels, restaurants and shops.
But as the United Arab Emirates comes under Iranian fire, Dubai’s reputation as a haven for the global elite is eroding. Super-rich UK nationals are now looking for a route back to Europe; and Milan, the financial centre of Italy, is climbing to the top of the list.
“Italy has the best benefits: a flat tax and good quality of life,” says Armand Arton, a consultant who helps multimillionaire and billionaire families to relocate through investment citizenship schemes. “People leaving the UAE can see themselves living in Rome or Milan quite easily as international, metropolitan centres.”
Under Italy’s flat-tax regime, foreign residents can pay €300,000 a year on all overseas income. The scheme, introduced in 2017, has attracted about 5,000 people so far, according to estimates by Maisto e Associati, an Italian law firm specialising in tax.
“Even though Italy had its flat-tax regime in 2017, at €100,000 at the time, it was not attracting a deluge of people,” says Marc Acheson, at the financial planner Utmost Wealth Solutions. “The abolition of the non-dom regime is what really spurred interest, and it came also just as Portugal was tightening its rules.”
Roberto Bonomi, a partner at the law firm Withers, adds that Italy has also shaken off its reputation as a politically unstable destination. “At first there was some scepticism,” Bonomi says. “But after nine years we have shown that it is a stable system. Clients are no longer scared about Italy – and recent events show that uncertainty exists everywhere.”
