Bye bye, Britain! Sir Richard Branson sells Oxfordshire mansion and moves to holiday island tax haven home

As Britain's best-known entrepreneur he has not been shy of wrapping himself - and his airline - in the Union flag.

But billionaire Sir Richard Branson has quit the UK to live full-time on his holiday island in a Caribbean tax haven, it was revealed yesterday.

The Virgin tycoon said he and wife Joan had chosen to move permanently to Necker as it allowed them to 'live life to the full' and enabled him to pursue hobbies including kite-surfing, tennis and pilates.
The 63-year-old denied reports he had left Britain to become a tax exile, saying he was too wealthy to allow tax considerations to dictate where he should live. 

The British Virgin Islands have an income tax rate of zero, rather than the 45 per cent top rate in the UK. Sir Richard said: 'I have not left Britain for tax reasons, but for my love of the beautiful British Virgin Islands and in particular Necker Island... We feel it gives me and my wife Joan the best chance to live another productive few decades. We can also look after our health.

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