Nearly 19,000 UK earners now on more than £1m a year

The number of people in the UK earning more than £1m a year has jumped to over 18,700, with more than one in 10 of them living in Kensington and Chelsea, according to figures released by a foreign media. The total increased by 3,700 in the latest available tax year, but there are concerns that many of the “highly mobile” high-earners could quit the UK in the wake of a messy Brexit. More than a third of all the £1m earners live in London, with more than 2,000 in Kensington and Chelsea, and 1,400 in the City of Westminster in the 2015-16 tax year. That’s according to HMRC figures obtained by the law firm Wilsons under freedom of information laws. The 2015-16 are the latest figures available. Wilsons’ analysis suggests that many of the £1m-plus earners are wealthy foreign executives, investors or non-doms who are domiciled overseas for tax purposes. They could leave the UK if immigration rules or taxes are tightened in the wake of Brexit. Tim Fullerlove, a partner at Wilsons, said: “London is still an attractive prospect for the wealthy, but a more welcoming culture in UK policies could help to retain its appeal.