The billionaire heir to JCB has threatened to relocate from Britain over Labour’s hike on inheritance tax.
Jo Bamford, son of JCB chairman Lord Bamford, said he was weighing up a move across the pond to the US in order to avoid paying the 20% tax on assets valued over £2.5m.
The inheritance tax crackdown, which came into affect this month, was described as a “real problem” by Bamford.
READ NEXT: Keir Starmer has finally found a way of getting billionaire expats to pay more tax
Speaking to City AM, Bamford said the Staffordshire-based JCB could “quite easily become an American business.”
In what is a familiar pattern with these billionaires, Bamford professed his love for his home country, despite the fact he would rather leave than pay a bit more tax on his vast wealth.
“I love being in Britain,” he said. “I love being here. I love our factories.”
However, he added: “But I would say to a political party of any stripe, there’s only so much you can ultimately do.”
Bamford claimed a move abroad would safeguard the number of jobs at the family’s portfolio of companies and prevent businesses from being sold off.
With 11 factories and over 8,000 employees, JCB is one of Britain’s largest family-owned manufacturing companies.
But Bamford hit out at Labour for “hunting down” family businesses with its inheritance tax hike, which sees full tax relief only applied to the first £2.5m of assets upon the business owner’s death.
Everything above the £2.5m threshold will be subject to 20% tax, and will no longer be able to be passed down by family business owners tax-free.
Bamford said: “You want us, as a family, to invest here in Britain.
“You know, we have businesses everywhere around the world. We have them in India, China and Brazil.”
He added: “I’m here because I’m British, and I’m here and I employ people in Britain because I like British people and I like being in my part of the community.”
Last year, steel tycoon billionaire Lakshmi Mittal ditched London for Dubai as a result of Labour’s tax reforms.
Ever since Labour announced the inheritance tax hike at the back end of 2024, there have been fears and speculation of a wealth exodus from the UK.
However, initial studies in the months after the announcement found that no such ‘millionaire exodus’ had come to pass.