There’s more appetite for investment for innovative industries offshore, according to Tim Cheong, a partner in the tax advisory group at Crowe Horwath.
“I think it is industry specific, we see it particularly with innovative industries like it, more so because the appetite for investment through the UK and US is a lot higher,” he says.
“We see smaller companies struggling to raise capital as well and it is often easier offshore.”
Cheong says lower corporate tax rates are also an incentive for businesses to move offshore.
“We see movement offshore for the tax rate as the corporate tax rate hasn’t moved here compared to the UK, where it is moving to a 20% rate down from 24%,” he says.
For technology companies like Atlassian, employees are often international and highly mobile.
Cheong says a move to the UK may allow a company to attract more employees, as company share schemes used to incentivise and reward employees are easier to establish and administer there.
Cara Waters is a former SmartCompany editor. Previously, Cara was a senior reporter for the Financial Times’ website and worked for The Sunday Times in London.
