The City of London’s top banks are clamping down on staff who have been waiting out the pandemic in their Mediterranean holiday villas or home countries, warning of hefty tax bills for those who stay away.
Senior executives at several large US and European banks confirmed that they were taking a tougher line on the hundreds of staff who began working thousands of miles away because of Covid-19, either to be closer to family or to wait out lockdowns in their more spacious holiday homes.
The main driver for getting people back to the UK is concern about the tax and regulatory consequences of having staff in other countries for an extended period of time. Some banks have summoned their people back to the UK, even if they do not have to come into the office.