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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Reuben Brothers' spokesperson has now confirmed our story.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

(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)

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.

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.