A former reality TV personality and millionaire has launched an unusual protest against Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ tax changes targeting non-domiciled individuals, choosing a historic location for her demonstration.
Ann Kaplan Mulholland, 64, known for her appearance on The Real Housewives of Toronto, has declared Lympne Castle in Hythe, Kent, where she resides, as an independent micronation.
With a fortune of £500 million, the entrepreneur and her husband, Stephen Mulholland, a prominent figure in the plastic surgery industry, are planning to leave the UK due to these new tax policies.
The protest, aimed at highlighting the potential outflow of wealth, featured an elaborate display at the 135-acre property, including drag performers, stilt-walking jesters, and a carefully orchestrated parade with beefeaters and yeomen.
Ms. Kaplan Mulholland, who purchased the castle in 2023 after relocating to the UK the previous year, made a grand entrance to her self-declared coronation in a horse-drawn carriage, dressed in regal green and gold attire.
Originally from Canada, this millionaire amassed her wealth through iFinance, a company specializing in small loans.
The couple claimed non-dom status for three years, during which time they bought a medieval castle and invested a purported £25m to transform it into a luxury wedding venue.
They intend to keep Lympne Castle, where around 100 people are employed, but plans for future British ventures including a new credit finance business have gone up in smoke along with their tax exemptions.
Ann Kaplan Mulholland led a bizarre protest at her 13th century castle against Chancellor Rachel Reeves ‘ non-dom tax raids
The businesswoman declared Lympne Castle, her home in Hithe, Kent, a micronation on Saturday
She said: ‘We could have gone to Dubai or Switzerland or the Bahamas. But we chose England.
‘We pay tax in England, we employ people, we invested in this country.
‘To abolish the non-domiciled regime that’s been in place since the 1700s to attract people doesn’t make any sense because we are so mobile. We can just say goodbye and get on a train to somewhere else.’
They are the latest in a string of millionaires and billionaires who are thought to be fleeing abroad, taking their spending and investing power with them after Labour pushed ahead with scrapping non-domiciled status last year.
Chancellor Reeves replaced it with a less generous scheme lasting just four years, and also discarded a rule which allowed foreign workers to avoid paying British tax on their overseas income.
Ms Kaplan Mulholland has an English mother but said it ‘doesn’t make any sense’ to remain in the UK, now they face huge tax bills on their overseas earnings.
She said she will move to Italy, where they will pay just €200,000 a year on foreign income, but would return if her non-dom status is revived.
The businesswoman has a net worth of £500million and is leaving the UK along with her plastic surgery tycoon husband Stephen Mulholland
Speaking previously to the Daily Mail, she said Labour ‘don’t want wealthy people in the UK’.
‘It’s not that we’re not willing to pay taxes: we do pay taxes in the UK, we employ over 100 people.
‘We bring clean capital to the UK, we’ve invested in businesses in the UK, we pay tax in the UK. But it’s like they don’t really want the wealthy in the UK, which I think is a big error.
‘There’s an opportunity for ‘Reckless’ Reeves, as I call her, to try to save this.’
Mr Mulholland also owns a manufacturing plant employing 3,000 people overseas – the tax bill on which would have been substantive.
‘We have businesses we’ve built from scratch that we pay tax on in other countries, we own multiple properties,’ she said.
‘Our children wouldn’t be protected by trusts and they would be subject to exorbitant inheritance tax It makes no sense to give the Government all of that money.’
