Thousands of UK tax exiles may have to pay tax following a court ruling. The Court of Appeal has upheld the right of HM Revenue & Customs to tax a businessman, Robert Gaines-Cooper, who has lived in the Seychelles since 1976.

The judges said that he had never been exempt from UK taxes as a non-resident citizen. Although he had abided by the rules to spend fewer than 91 days in the UK, he had still not cut his ties with the country.

Gaines-Cooper may now have to pay a tax bill of £30m, for the years from 1993 to 2004.

The Court of Appeal said Gaines-Cooper retained significant personal ties to the UK.  He has a residence in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, and returned frequently to the UK for business and social functions. His son was also born in the UK and attended an English boarding school.

A nonresident must "demonstrate a distinct break from former social and family ties within the U.K.," the judges said in their ruling.

A key aspect of the Revenue's old guidance on whether someone was resident in the UK for tax purposes -- known as IR20 - - was whether they spent, on average, fewer than 91 days here each year.

However, the three Appeal Court judges ruled that it had always been the case that any would-be tax exile, such as Gaines-Cooper, first had to show they had really left the country.

Any continuing connections would mean that he had not actually cut his ties with the UK and would thus not be able to avoid UK taxes.

The 91-day rule, they said, did not in fact establish non-residency, and was"important only to establish whether non-resident status, once acquired, has been lost".

Gaines-Cooer, now in his 70s, made his fortune from international businesses, selling, among other things, juke-boxes.

Despite moving to the Seychelles in 1976, where he lives on a colonial plantation, the judges said that England had remained the "centre of gravity of his life and interests."

In April, the government will increase the income-tax rate to 50% from the current 40% for individuals who earn more than £150,000 annually. This coincides with stricter rules on tax breaks for foreigners who reside in the UK but claim their tax domicile elsewhere. And, last year, the government set up a new unit to monitor the tax affairs of the country's top 5,000 earners -- effectively those with a net worth of about £30 million or more.