If you plan to leave the UK or have already left, you should check if you’re eligible for a UK tax rebate for expats. Start by organising your tax affairs, an essential part of relocating and ensuring you can claim back UK tax paid on all your taxable income.
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UK Tax Rebate for Expats – Have you left the UK
Doing so is also one way to avoid penalties from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and from losing an opportunity to make an expat UK tax claim.
Check out this UK tax rebate guide or take advantage of UK tax rebate services.
Do I need to tell HMRC when leaving the UK?
It is a must that you do, especially if you plan to leave the UK to live abroad permanently. Fill out form P85 ‘Leaving the UK’ and send it to HMRC so the agency will know your change of location and update your record.
If you submit a self assessment tax return, you don’t need to complete form P85.
When am I owed a UK tax rebate for expats?
When you leave the UK part way through a tax year. How much expat UK tax claim you will receive will depend on your earnings and the tax paid on them.
Tax claims can be made from across the last four tax years since you left the UK.
How will I know if I am a non-resident for tax purposes?
Take the statutory resident test to verify and confirm if you are indeed a non-resident in the UK for tax purposes. If this is the case, you need to provide evidence, such as the following:
- Proof that your move abroad is permanent
- Proof that you will not be working in the UK for more than an entire tax year
- Proof that you only visit in the UK for less than 183 days in one tax year
By proving that you are a non-resident for tax purposes, you will not be required to pay UK tax. The same is true if you’re working outside the UK.
When am I class non-resident when working outside the UK?
- When only the 90 days per tax year is spent working or staying in the UK and the rest of it is spent outside.
- When your work days in the UK in any tax year is 30 days or fewer.
- When your absence last for at least 1 entire UK tax year
- When your continuous or full-time overseas employment last for at least 1 entire UK tax year
When can a non-resident claim UK tax rebate for expats?
- When you paid tax on any income arising in the UK, such as from a private pension.
- When you pay tax on a UK government pension and the country you reside in has a Double Taxation Treaty with the UK.
- When you have overpaid tax on any taxable income in the UK.
Do I need to pay tax in the UK and the country I relocate to?
It will depend if a Double Taxation Treaty is in place.
If this is the case, you will not pay UK tax if you’re considered a non-resident for tax purposes but you will pay tax in the partner country that you move into.
Because there are other concerns that an expat may encounter with regards to tax claims, it is recommended that you take advantage of UK tax rebate services.