Non-resident Brit returning to the UK - Tax?

[AJRH]

I have been resident in two Middle Eastern countries for the last 2 years and 10 months, where I have been locally employed.

I am soon to return to work in the UK, and am interested to hear anyone's insight into the tax implications of this. I have not paid tax on this income earned overseas.

Two questions:

1) Can I repatriate money earned abroad to the UK without tax/penalty?

2) As I will be a taxpayer for part of this tax year, will I be liable to pay tax on my entire year earnings, or just money earnt whilst employed in the UK as a UK resident?

Any advice or relevant links would be highly appreciated. Sadly this means my Defender is up for sale!

[Eric Mc]

AJRH said:

I have been resident in two Middle Eastern countries for the last 2 years and 10 months, where I have been locally employed.

I am soon to return to work in the UK, and am interested to hear anyone's insight into the tax implications of this. I have not paid tax on this income earned overseas.

Two questions:

1) Can I repatriate money earned abroad to the UK without tax/penalty? Yes.

2) As I will be a taxpayer for part of this tax year, will I be liable to pay tax on my entire year earnings, or just money earnt whilst employed in the UK as a UK resident?

Technically, yes - but HMRC will normally apply the "split year" basis which means you will be only taxed from the date you became a UK tax resident



Any advice or relevant links would be highly appreciated. Sadly this means my Defender is up for sale!

[Mattt]

2 years & 10 months means you would have covered one whole tax year abroad - and subject to (unclear) other residency criteria, you should be fine.

You should be able to claim split year treatment for the 11/12 tax year, and the one that you left the UK (if you haven't already).

I filed my self assessment this week claiming split year treatment for 10/11 via Taxcalc - takes less than 10 minutes if you have all relevant docs in front of you.

[AJRH]

Helpful info guys - thanks very much.

In terms of repatriating saved earnings, will I need copies of payslips etc to evidence where this lump sum has appeared from?

[Mattt]

I was still paid into the UK, so can't help on this I'm afraid.

[Eric Mc]

AJRH said:

Helpful info guys - thanks very much.

In terms of repatriating saved earnings, will I need copies of payslips etc to evidence where this lump sum has appeared from?

It would be good practice to keep all evidence of your past earnings, even for periods when you were a non-UK tax resident. HMRC can essentially assert anything they like - so if you need to prove the source of any income, having original documentary evidence showing where the income came from would be extremely useful.

[Mojocvh]

Eric Mc said:

AJRH said:

Helpful info guys - thanks very much.

In terms of repatriating saved earnings, will I need copies of payslips etc to evidence where this lump sum has appeared from?

It would be good practice to keep all evidence of your past earnings, even for periods when you were a non-UK tax resident. HMRC can essentially assert anything they like - so if you need to prove the source of any income, having original documentary evidence showing where the income came from would be extremely useful.

Just to add, they CAN be a law unto themselves, but you HAVE to communicate with them promptly and concisely, and with the correct evidence investigations can be curtailed to everyone's satisfaction.

Now the French on the other hand..............................................