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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

And to be the first to hear about new investigations and reports, do sign up to our fortnightly newsletter here: subscribepage.com/taxwatch

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Complexity is the bane of our tax system. For more detail, you can read TaxWatch's submission to the consultation here: taxwatchuk.org/wp-content/u...

taxwatchuk.org

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Make things simple. Require Amazon, eBay, Shein et al to collect UK VAT on all sales to UK customers, and for all sellers. And make it easy for those with verified documentation that the sale is VAT-free to apply for a refund via the platform.

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

That's doubly true for online selling, where it's much easier than in the physical high street for businesses to pretend to be someone else or somewhere else.

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

There's still time for a re-think. The overwhelming lesson from the 2016 and 2021 changes is that adding complexity, through exemptions and derogations for different kinds of entities, however well-intentioned, is almost always an avenue for abuse.

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Technically these exemptions (sort of) reflect the £90k VAT registration threshold and the VAT margin system for second-hand goods. But as TaxWatch and Retailers Against VAT Abuse Schemes have argued, they are an invitation for more abuse. news.bloombergtax.com/daily-tax-re...

news.bloombergtax.com

UK Online Sales VAT Plan Risks Trading One Loophole for Another

A UK proposal to require online marketplaces such as Amazon.com Inc. to collect value-added tax from UK sellers on their platforms is dividing stakeholders over whether small businesses should be exem...

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

HMRC's consultation proposes to exempt platforms from collecting VAT for (1) sellers turning over under £90k on their platforms, and (2) second-hand goods. And it looks like these exemptions may still be in the new rules.

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

And today saw reports that this change will be in the forthcoming Budget. That's cause for celebration.🎉 BUT: as in 2016 and 2021, the new legislation may leave two major loopholes.

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

The govt promise to use the extra revenue to cut business rates for high street shops. (We've previously ballparked the numbers on this here) ⬇️ bsky.app/profile/taxw...

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

After a decade-long David v Goliath campaign by Retailers Against VAT Abuse, this year the govt finally acknowledged the mountain of evidence of '000s of spoof UK sellers, and consulted on extending online marketplaces' VAT collection obligations to all sellers: UK and foreign.

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

The biggest remaining loophole is not requiring platforms to collect VAT for UK sellers. This invites foreign sellers to spoof UK presence through proxies setting up companies at Companies House and other avenues, and then simply not pay UK VAT. www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-n...

walesonline.co.uk

12,000 Chinese companies were registered to a flat in Cardiff

The flat's owner has received thousands of tax bills for the companies since November 2021

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Two rounds of legislation to do this - in 2016 and 2021 - have boosted VAT collection by several billion pounds, but still left huge loopholes open. committees.parliament.uk/publications...

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

For years, as TaxWatch has repeatedly highlighted, many sellers on platforms like eBay and Amazon have been evading VAT. The solution is obvious: require the platforms to collect VAT on sales made via their sites. www.taxwatchuk.org/vat_online_m...

taxwatchuk.org

HMRC’s attack on digital Del Boys leaves much to be desired

HMRC's attack on online VAT fraud fails to make a serious dent in the problem

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

GOOD-ISH NEWS (the only kind there is these days): reports today that the govt will shut a major tax loophole, likely costing the public purse hundreds of millions of pounds, highlighted by TaxWatch and and a decade-long campaign by Retailers Against VAT Abuse Schemes (RAVAS). Why only good-ish? 🧵

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

For more news about our work, you can subscribe to our fortnightly newsletter subscribepage.com/taxwatch /end

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

We need a light shone on the reality of ‘offshore’ and its impact on the UK tax system. We could start with: ➡️accountability for the anonymous advice merchants selling ‘offshore’ online ➡️a debate on taxation of the globally mobile based on real data, not anecdote

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

There’s a neat symmetry that these kinds of unregulated offshore advice operations are using an (inaccurate) story about a billionaire’s tax residence to advertise…alternative tax residencies.

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

These websites aren’t aimed at ultra-wealthy Rich Listers like David Reuben. They’re marketing their services directly to ‘ordinary’ aspiring taxpayers. And because tax advice isn’t regulated in the UK, there’s no quality control, no checks on legality, no consumer protection.

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

He’s not listed on the sites, where pseudonymous advisers -- like the ‘Richard Barr’ whose byline is on the Liberty Mundo article about David Reuben -- offer advice and paid-for consultations. Their pictures are AI-generated and we can’t find any offline traces of them.

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Our investigation found links between these websites and Craig Whyte, the former owner of Rangers FC. Whyte was disqualified from acting as a company director for 25 years in 2014.

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Two weeks ago we reported on a network of websites around the brand 'Liberty Mundo', marketing tax haven companies, trusts, alternative tax residencies, crypto privacy methods, and asset-protection structures. One linked site even offers advice on avoiding extradition.

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

The story that Britain's 2nd-richest person “recently” fled UK taxes for Monaco -- which this week we showed is incorrect -- seems have been repeated everywhere. Including by a website whose offshore tax advice we scrutinised in a recent report: tinyurl.com/4wh78u8t 🧵

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Reposted by TaxWatch

Patriotic Millionaires UK @patmillsuk.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Turns out - thanks to some great fact checking by our friends @taxwatch.bsky.social and @taxjusticeuk.bsky.social - the billionaire actually moved to Monaco in 2014. When our media is owned by the super-rich - are they really acting in the public interest, or their own?

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

The Reuben Brothers' spokesperson has now confirmed our story.

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

It’s time that our politicians, and our media, debate these changes based on public facts and verifiable numbers – not anecdotes and anonymous reports from billionaires and their spokespeople.

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

A large proportion of the political and media conversation about the UK’s tax system rests on newspaper stories about ultra-wealthy individuals’ tax payments and residence which we simply can’t verify.

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Why does this matter? Because these kinds of 'billionaire exodus' stories are driving our national conversation about tax. Even the Leader of the Opposition mentioned it in her conference speech today.

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

None of the dozens of news stories published this week have mentioned the publicly available documents about David Reuben’s residence.

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

The other possibility, as a source with direct knowledge of David Reuben’s affairs insisted to TaxWatch this week, is that he has indeed been resident in Monaco for many years, and that claims that he moved his residency from the UK this summer are simply incorrect.

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

(At best, such a temporary returnee, already with a decade of offshore residence, can hardly be the Labour-driven tax exile that much of the UK press have claimed, nor a vital part of UK tax revenues)

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

There’s only one scenario that could make this true, and consistent with the legal documents: that having spent ten years in Monaco, David Reuben decided at some point since March 2024, aged 86, to move back to the UK and into its tax net – and then rapidly decided to leave again.

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

This week it reported subsequent confirmation by the Reuben brothers’ spokesperson, without further comment, that David was currently resident in Monaco. Based on these two statements, it reported that David Reuben had moved to Monaco in the meantime.

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

So how did the 'Monaco move' story come about? Despite these declarations in public documents, TaxWatch understands that the Sunday Times was told earlier this year that David Reuben was resident in London.

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

(This was important for the brothers’ claim that the court lacked jurisdiction, and also that they had not been properly served with summons delivered to a London service company)

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

And in February 2024 David Reuben provided a signed declaration under penalty of perjury to a Los Angeles court, stating that “I reside in Monaco. I have resided there for approximately 10 years”.

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

In July 2019, when David Reuben became a director of his UK charitable foundation, the paperwork filed at the UK company registry stated clearly that he was “usually resident” in Monaco, just like his brother and co-investor.

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

There’s just one problem: according to official documents, including company records and a signed court declaration, David Reuben left the UK years ago.

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

No source quoted in @thetimes.com gave any indication about David Reuben’s motive, but most of the stories have blamed the 2025 abolition of non-dom tax status, recent changes to CGT and IHT, or fears about potential wealth or exit taxes in the October Budget.

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Most major UK news outlets, and many foreign ones, have quickly replicated the story.

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

The Sunday Times reported that Reuben “moved to Monaco over the summer”, having prior to that been “living in Holland Park, west London”, the latest in “a wave of similar departures since Labour came to power”. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

thetimes.com

Verifying Device

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Nearly every week brings a report that the govt’s tax policies are driving another member of the Rich List to pack up for foreign shores. This week saw a raft of media stories that 88-year-old property magnate David Reuben (net worth £9.9bn) left the UK earlier this year.

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

BREAKING: this week's papers have been full of a story that Britain's 2nd-richest person left the UK for Monaco this summer, driven offshore by non-dom and other tax changes. Only one problem: according to official docs, he left the UK over a decade ago. www.taxwatchuk.org/how-many-tim...

taxwatchuk.org

How many times can you move to Monaco?

Dozens of news reports are claiming that property billionaire David Reuben, number two on the UK’s Rich List, moved from London to Monaco “this summer”, pushed out by the government’s tax changes and ...

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

The answer for property income is fairly clear. We don't know the detail of the Reuben brothers' holding structures, but changes over the last decade ensure that most the income and gains from UK property owned by non-residents are taxed in the UK, and often subject to UK IHT too.

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

The real question, though, is how HNWIs' income arising in or remitted to the UK -- which as non-doms is all that many were previously taxed on anyway -- is going to be taxed if they cease to be UK tax-resident.

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Which begs the question how many times you can actually move to Monaco...

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

(Incidentally, none of the dozens of stories repeating this story seem to have noticed that as far back as 2019, @forbes.com was reporting that "David [Reuben] resides part time in Monaco and Florida") web.archive.org/web/20190921...

web.archive.org

David Reuben

David Reuben - #195 Billionaires

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TaxWatch @taxwatch.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

The latest is the @telegraph.co.uk's report this weekend that "David Reuben, a property tycoon reportedly worth £9.9bn, moved to Monaco during the summer", reportedly in reaction to last year's changes to the non-dom tax rules.

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