Declare UK tax while live in Thailand?

[meatboy]

No matter where you live in the world any income from the UK above the minimum allowance threshold is taxable by HMRC and you are required to declare all. Filling out your self assessment online is no longer possible if you are outside the UK. My personal feeling is that since you don't have any of the advantages/services that resident UK tax payers get there should be a either a lower rate or a higher threshold for non-residents (of the UK) but until non-residents can cause serious ballot box problems, That ain't gonna happen.

Are you sure about this. I've lived in Thailand for 9 years and every year I get sent a notice to complete my Self Assessment form and do so online. In fact I completed this years last week, online. They send the receipts and all correspondence to my address in Bangkok, and even gave me a "dummy" UK postcode as the online form wouldn't accept a Thai one!

I left the UK in 1990 and have never been sent one, how would they even know where to send it to?

how would they know where to send to?wait till you want your state pension or any other.

[andypatt]

I have lived in the kingdom for over 8 years on the extension of stay visa ( retired ) I have no intention of ever returning to the UK neverthe less they HMRC deduct taxes every month from my various pensions and in two years time it will be even more when I start receiving my old age state pension I hate and detest seeing the monies I worked hard for being taxed to support those who have no interest in doing a days work that is one of the reasons I left rip of Britain.

[JAS21]

There is normally a tick box to indicate that you are non-resident. This is no longer there hence if you cannot enter a valid postcode you cannot move to the next page. I queried this by email and was told that online self assessment was only available to UK residents. Please tell us more about "and even gave me a "dummy" UK postcode". How did you get them to do that?

When I completed my first online self-assessment (from Bangkok) I had the same issue with the postcode. I sent them an email and got this the reply. I've used the "fictitious" postcode ever since!

Dear Mr XXXXXX Thank you for your email. Some customers are having problems with the `postcode' field on the TellUs about you page of the 08/09 HMRC return. This box has been incorrectly made mandatory, so if you do not have a postcode (e.g. overseas addresses, etc) you will receive the error message `Please complete postcode'.To resolve this issue, please use the following fictitious postcode Q1 1IJ (Quebec, One, One, India, Juliet). This will allow you to continue completing the rest of your return.

Regards Online Services Helpdesk Opening hours: 8am to 8pm, 7 days a week. Website:   www.hmrc.gov.ukemail:     [email protected]: 0845 6055999 Minicom:   0845 3667805Fax:       0845 3667828

I had that problem in 07/08 with HMRC .... previously I used Tax Calc, so just continued when I came over here. Use it every year, about 20GBP ...you don't pay VAT on it. It's pretty easy to work out what you owe anyway. With Tax Calc it remembers you from last year and fills in a lot of bits for you. Suppose really I should save the 20GBP and use the free HMRC one ... now that I know you can.

Edited August 10, 2014 by JAS21

[andypatt]

I have lived in the kingdom for over 8 years on the extension of stay visa ( retired ) I have no intention of ever returning to the UK neverthe less they HMRC deduct taxes every month from my various pensions and in two years time it will be even more when I start receiving my old age state pension I hate and detest seeing the monies I worked hard for being taxed to support those who have no interest in doing a days work that is one of the reasons I left rip of Britain.

I couldn't agree more, I hope I never have to live in the UK again with all the low life parasites that recieve MY hard earned money, given to them by our lying government

[brewsterbudgen]

I have lived in the kingdom for over 8 years on the extension of stay visa ( retired ) I have no intention of ever returning to the UK neverthe less they HMRC deduct taxes every month from my various pensions and in two years time it will be even more when I start receiving my old age state pension I hate and detest seeing the monies I worked hard for being taxed to support those who have no interest in doing a days work that is one of the reasons I left rip of Britain.

I couldn't agree more, I hope I never have to live in the UK again with all the low life parasites that recieve MY hard earned money, given to them by our lying government

So you will decline your state pension? £200 goes quite far in Thailand.

Sent from my GT-S7270L using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[cosmosis]

Once you have spent 12 consecutive months resident outside the UK you can have yourself declared Not Ordinarily Resident in the UK for Tax purposes. You just have to fill up a form P.85 and send to HMRC and get their letter acknowledging your situation as non-UK resident. In Thailand you only have to pay Thai taxes on funds brought into Thailand. In the meantime there is a double tax treaty between the UK and Thailand, which is a mechanism to prevent being taxed on the same income twice.

Edited August 10, 2014 by cosmosis

[ldnguy]

what happens if you just don't declare your taxes

If you are not elligible to pay tax, say nothing...legal.

If you are, say nothing...illegal.

If your earnings are below the basic tax threshold £10,000/year or tax free, certain pensions eg war pension...legal.

If you own a property in the UK and rent it out without declaring it...who's to know. Illegal.

If you rent through an agent and you live overseas, the agent will deduct tax on behalf of HMRC unless your provide some form from HMRC (forgot what it's called). If you rent direct to someone and don't declare it, you could face a big fine when caught. Also, how will you explain it when you come to sell. If you have address overseas and then sell UK property many years later they'll assume it's liable to CGT and will check why no rental income came in. There are lots of ways for them to find out.

[ldnguy]

No matter where you live in the world any income from the UK above the minimum allowance threshold is taxable by HMRC and you are required to declare all. Filling out your self assessment online is no longer possible if you are outside the UK. My personal feeling is that since you don't have any of the advantages/services that resident UK tax payers get there should be a either a lower rate or a higher threshold for non-residents (of the UK) but until non-residents can cause serious ballot box problems, That ain't gonna happen.

Please don't post such nonsense. You have no idea what you're talking about. I live in Thailand and always fill out my self-assessment online from here. I also give my address here and HMRC send my letters here. It is definitely possible, so don't say it's not. They don't tax my income because I'm non-resident for tax purposes. I don't have to declare it either. It's nothing to do with HMRC. Check the facts before commenting

[ldnguy]

No matter where you live in the world any income from the UK above the minimum allowance threshold is taxable by HMRC and you are required to declare all. Filling out your self assessment online is no longer possible if you are outside the UK. My personal feeling is that since you don't have any of the advantages/services that resident UK tax payers get there should be a either a lower rate or a higher threshold for non-residents (of the UK) but until non-residents can cause serious ballot box problems, That ain't gonna happen.

Are you sure about this. I've lived in Thailand for 9 years and every year I get sent a notice to complete my Self Assessment form and do so online. In fact I completed this years last week, online. They send the receipts and all correspondence to my address in Bangkok, and even gave me a "dummy" UK postcode as the online form wouldn't accept a Thai one!

I left the UK in 1990 and have never been sent one, how would they even know where to send it to?

If there is nothing to declare then you don't need to complete one. If you have anything to declare then you have a duty to supply them with your address. If you owe tax and have hidden from them, then they could block your passport, or keep you in UK next time you go home until you pa what you owe. Not everyone has to complete self-assessment, o if you don't then no problem.

[ldnguy]

I have lived in the kingdom for over 8 years on the extension of stay visa ( retired ) I have no intention of ever returning to the UK neverthe less they HMRC deduct taxes every month from my various pensions and in two years time it will be even more when I start receiving my old age state pension I hate and detest seeing the monies I worked hard for being taxed to support those who have no interest in doing a days work that is one of the reasons I left rip of Britain.

I couldn't agree more, I hope I never have to live in the UK again with all the low life parasites that recieve MY hard earned money, given to them by our lying government

So why don't you give u your citizenship if it's such a bad place? Or maybe you're one of those people that is all talk.

[watso63]

I have lived in the kingdom for over 8 years on the extension of stay visa ( retired ) I have no intention of ever returning to the UK neverthe less they HMRC deduct taxes every month from my various pensions and in two years time it will be even more when I start receiving my old age state pension I hate and detest seeing the monies I worked hard for being taxed to support those who have no interest in doing a days work that is one of the reasons I left rip of Britain.

I couldn't agree more, I hope I never have to live in the UK again with all the low life parasites that recieve MY hard earned money, given to them by our lying government

So why don't you give u your citizenship if it's such a bad place? Or maybe you're one of those people that is all talk.

I can't stand what my country became under Bliar and Brown. Even so I served my 22 and I have earned my pension and state pension. Now the rules are being changed to reflect longer life expectancy, fair enough, but that leaves me 2 years short of NI payments. I will gladly top up if they unfreeze expat pensions that have been earned and paid for. There's nothing unpatriotic about despising what the pigs in Westminster have done to our country and the bone idle low life that want everything for nothing scroungers. I am never going back. If I get cancer here, then I'll die...Tango Sierra!

[laislica]

I have lived in the kingdom for over 8 years on the extension of stay visa ( retired ) I have no intention of ever returning to the UK neverthe less they HMRC deduct taxes every month from my various pensions and in two years time it will be even more when I start receiving my old age state pension I hate and detest seeing the monies I worked hard for being taxed to support those who have no interest in doing a days work that is one of the reasons I left rip of Britain.

I couldn't agree more, I hope I never have to live in the UK again with all the low life parasites that recieve MY hard earned money, given to them by our lying government

So why don't you give u your citizenship if it's such a bad place? Or maybe you're one of those people that is all talk.

I can't stand what my country became under Bliar and Brown. Even so I served my 22 and I have earned my pension and state pension. Now the rules are being changed to reflect longer life expectancy, fair enough, but that leaves me 2 years short of NI payments. I will gladly top up if they unfreeze expat pensions that have been earned and paid for. There's nothing unpatriotic about despising what the pigs in Westminster have done to our country and the bone idle low life that want everything for nothing scroungers. I am never going back. If I get cancer here, then I'll die...Tango Sierra!

It would be so easy to go off topic at this point and talk about the huge borrowing that Germany did in the 20´s which then caused massive inflation and let Hitler in....

But I won´t!

I will wait for a new thread LOL

[Muhendis]

No matter where you live in the world any income from the UK above the minimum allowance threshold is taxable by HMRC and you are required to declare all. Filling out your self assessment online is no longer possible if you are outside the UK. My personal feeling is that since you don't have any of the advantages/services that resident UK tax payers get there should be a either a lower rate or a higher threshold for non-residents (of the UK) but until non-residents can cause serious ballot box problems, That ain't gonna happen.

Please don't post such nonsense. You have no idea what you're talking about. I live in Thailand and always fill out my self-assessment online from here. I also give my address here and HMRC send my letters here. It is definitely possible, so don't say it's not. They don't tax my income because I'm non-resident for tax purposes. I don't have to declare it either. It's nothing to do with HMRC. Check the facts before commenting

Clearly you are upset about something. Have a look at post 27 and you will see that I am not talking nonsense. Others have had the same problem re. online self assessment. I should point out that last year I did do it online but this year (in July) that was not possible for the reasons stated. When I queried this with HMRC the response was that "online self assessment cannot be done if you do not live in the UK". So this would appear to be some sort of screwup by HMRC which they will hopefully put right if they have not done so already. The HMRC also pointed out to me that all income earned in the UK is taxable under the UK tax laws. So you see, I do know what I'm talking about and with regard to checking facts I think you are the one with the difficulty there.

[sandmike]

what happens if you just don't declare your taxes

If you are not elligible to pay tax, say nothing...legal.

If you are, say nothing...illegal.

If your earnings are below the basic tax threshold £10,000/year or tax free, certain pensions eg war pension...legal.

If you own a property in the UK and rent it out without declaring it...who's to know. Illegal.

If you rent through an agent and you live overseas, the agent will deduct tax on behalf of HMRC unless your provide some form from HMRC (forgot what it's called). If you rent direct to someone and don't declare it, you could face a big fine when caught. Also, how will you explain it when you come to sell. If you have address overseas and then sell UK property many years later they'll assume it's liable to CGT and will check why no rental income came in. There are lots of ways for them to find out.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/international/nr-landlords.htm#2

Here's the site for overseas landlords.

If the house you were renting and are now selling is the place you would normally live in i.e. your main UK residence, then I understand no CGT is payable on the profit made when you sell.

I work overseas, and my housing is provided by my employer, so the UK house is still my main residence even though it is rented.

I think the problem would be persuading the taxman that the UK property is your main residence having lived for some years in Thailand.

As an aside, as part of the non residency test for tax now, you have to be able to show no available abode in the UK, and a rented house satisfies this.

[whitethai]

I have lived in the kingdom for over 8 years on the extension of stay visa ( retired ) I have no intention of ever returning to the UK neverthe less they HMRC deduct taxes every month from my various pensions and in two years time it will be even more when I start receiving my old age state pension I hate and detest seeing the monies I worked hard for being taxed to support those who have no interest in doing a days work that is one of the reasons I left rip of Britain.

The majority in the UK work. It's a small minority that doesn't work and the amount of your tax that goes to them is minimal. That is a very odd reason for leaving a country, especially when you consider where money goes in other countries. What do you think happens to the tax you pay in Thailand? Are you happy how it's spent?

Thanks all and I will remember this good info matey

[MrMo]

Basically, the UK law is quite simple.

Everyone who has UK income (pension / rent / dividend / interest / etc.), regardless of where they live or what their nationality is, has to declare that income earned in the UK to the UK tax authorities.

The UK authorities don't care about monies you earned elsewhere. Note : this may not be correct for EU countries

If you live in a country outside the UK which has a tax agreement with the UK you then get a choice as to whether you pay taxes to the UK or to your host country offsetting the tax paid to one country against the tax bill of the other country. You need to do the maths.

A point on Thai Tax Laws is that if you bring money in to Thailand in the same Thai tax year (Jan 1st to Dec 31st) as you "earned" it (yes , that includes pensions / ....... / etc.) then it is liable for taxation by the Thai authorities. If, however, you bring it in to Thailand in a following year it is NOT liable for Thai Tax.

[Anon999]

form a company, and pay tax in Thailand, but if your living in Thailand why would you need to declare tax in the UK anyway

It's mandatory to declare UK tax to HMRC. We should be so lucky and anyway tax in Thailand is higher than UK tax so I'll stick with that.

[ldnguy]

Basically, the UK law is quite simple.

Everyone who has UK income (pension / rent / dividend / interest / etc.), regardless of where they live or what their nationality is, has to declare that income earned in the UK to the UK tax authorities.

The UK authorities don't care about monies you earned elsewhere. Note : this may not be correct for EU countries

If you live in a country outside the UK which has a tax agreement with the UK you then get a choice as to whether you pay taxes to the UK or to your host country offsetting the tax paid to one country against the tax bill of the other country. You need to do the maths.

A point on Thai Tax Laws is that if you bring money in to Thailand in the same Thai tax year (Jan 1st to Dec 31st) as you "earned" it (yes , that includes pensions / ....... / etc.) then it is liable for taxation by the Thai authorities. If, however, you bring it in to Thailand in a following year it is NOT liable for Thai Tax.

That is only partly true. If you are non-resident for tax purposes, you do not have to declare interest or income like royalties that are earning in the uk. I have discussed this with HMRC. I have also read the info and discussed with an accountant. Can you please provide a link to the info you are talking about. No-one else I l know who is non-resident declares stuff like that. Rental income from UK property needs to be declared and UK state pensions. I've no idea about other YK pensions, as I don't have one so haven't checked. But there is definitely no UK law saying I have to declare UK interest payments.

[Muhendis]

Basically, the UK law is quite simple.

Everyone who has UK income (pension / rent / dividend / interest / etc.), regardless of where they live or what their nationality is, has to declare that income earned in the UK to the UK tax authorities.

The UK authorities don't care about monies you earned elsewhere. Note : this may not be correct for EU countries

If you live in a country outside the UK which has a tax agreement with the UK you then get a choice as to whether you pay taxes to the UK or to your host country offsetting the tax paid to one country against the tax bill of the other country. You need to do the maths.

A point on Thai Tax Laws is that if you bring money in to Thailand in the same Thai tax year (Jan 1st to Dec 31st) as you "earned" it (yes , that includes pensions / ....... / etc.) then it is liable for taxation by the Thai authorities. If, however, you bring it in to Thailand in a following year it is NOT liable for Thai Tax.

That is only partly true. If you are non-resident for tax purposes, you do not have to declare interest or income like royalties that are earning in the uk. I have discussed this with HMRC. I have also read the info and discussed with an accountant. Can you please provide a link to the info you are talking about. No-one else I l know who is non-resident declares stuff like that. Rental income from UK property needs to be declared and UK state pensions. I've no idea about other YK pensions, as I don't have one so haven't checked. But there is definitely no UK law saying I have to declare UK interest payments.

In addition to that, interest earned from banks and building societies does not require to be declared (taxed at source). For some of us poor expats we do have to declare profits from share dealing but not dividends (once again taxed at source).

[Jaggg88]

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you have to declare to the taxman that you have permanently left the UK by filling in the form P85 - leaving the UK getting your tax right. you should also have opened an online self assessment tax account although this is useless as living abroad you have to fill in a paper tax return form .... I still own a house in the UK so I fill in a tax return every year, I pay an accountant to do this so there's no mistakes, and pay no tax but once my house is sold will then ask the tax office permission to stop filling in a tax return as I have no intention of living in the UK again but if I did move back would then just declare myself again to the taxman.

if you are retired there are swings and roundabouts to declaring yourself as having permanently left the UK such as your state pension not rising although this is under discussion about giving British citizens the same pension rights worldwide although don't hold your breath about it happening anytime soon. also, if you don't have medical insurance in Thailand you might be better off not declaring having left. seek advice from professionals about this, I know of a firm of financial advisors with British advisors in Bangkok where I get newsletters emailed to me and they seem professional - Credenda Associates,Level 16, Prime Building, 24 Sukhumvit 21, Klong Toey, Wattana, Bangkok. as always caveat emptor, buyer beware.

I complete an online UK Self-Assessment tax return each year, even though I've lived and worked full-time in Thailand since 2005. I have no desire to be "non resident" as I may have to return to the UK at a moment's notice if I lose my job/work permit here. I'm quite happy to pay UK tax on my (minimal) UK earnings which are just interest on my UK bank accounts.

Being non resident for tax purposes does not stop you from returning to the UK - you can return and stay for up to 90 days per tax year or you can just return and change your status to resident. What you should be considering tho' is your pension position- you should at least consider paying voluntary National Insurance contributions while you're working abroad to maintain state pension, although this can only be done if you've paid at least 3 years NI already.

[meatboy]

Basically, the UK law is quite simple.

Everyone who has UK income (pension / rent / dividend / interest / etc.), regardless of where they live or what their nationality is, has to declare that income earned in the UK to the UK tax authorities.

The UK authorities don't care about monies you earned elsewhere. Note : this may not be correct for EU countries

If you live in a country outside the UK which has a tax agreement with the UK you then get a choice as to whether you pay taxes to the UK or to your host country offsetting the tax paid to one country against the tax bill of the other country. You need to do the maths.

A point on Thai Tax Laws is that if you bring money in to Thailand in the same Thai tax year (Jan 1st to Dec 31st) as you "earned" it (yes , that includes pensions / ....... / etc.) then it is liable for taxation by the Thai authorities. If, however, you bring it in to Thailand in a following year it is NOT liable for Thai Tax.

That is only partly true. If you are non-resident for tax purposes, you do not have to declare interest or income like royalties that are earning in the uk. I have discussed this with HMRC. I have also read the info and discussed with an accountant. Can you please provide a link to the info you are talking about. No-one else I l know who is non-resident declares stuff like that. Rental income from UK property needs to be declared and UK state pensions. I've no idea about other YK pensions, as I don't have one so haven't checked. But there is definitely no UK law saying I have to declare UK interest payments.

no law at all to declare uk.interest payments because it is taxed at souce unless that is,you have filled in a p85 exempt tax form to declare that your income is below the threshold,[ personel allow].as for other uk.pensions [not state] the inland rev.will receive the details of your pension from the supplier which then the amount will be added to the rest of your income to determin whether you are liable for tax or not.

[Rumpole]

Being non resident for tax purposes does not stop you from returning to the UK - you can return and stay for up to 90 days per tax year or you can just return and change your status to resident. What you should be considering tho' is your pension position- you should at least consider paying voluntary National Insurance contributions while you're working abroad to maintain state pension, although this can only be done if you've paid at least 3 years NI already.

It used to be possible to spend up to 90 days in any one tax year, or an accumulated 180 days in any three year period, back in the UK without affecting non-residence status. This was changed in April of last year. The number of days permitted in the UK without becoming resident for tax purposes now depends on time spent in the UK in previous tax years and whether or not you are working overseas:

You will be classified as non-UK resident in tax year 2013/14 if any of the following apply:-

you were resident in the UK for one or more of tax years 2010/11, 2011/12 or 2012/13 and spend fewer than 16 days in the UK in 2013/14;

you were resident in the UK for none of tax years 2010/11, 2011/12 and 2012/13 and spend fewer than 46 days in the UK in 2013/14; or

you work full-time overseas in 2013/14 and spend fewer than 91 days in the UK of which fewer than 31 days are working days.

http://www.mondaq.com/x/233420/general+ ... ed+Spouses

[rwdrwdrwd]

Purely in terms of UK liability:

If you're not living in the UK, and must invoice from a company, the most beneficial arrangement would be to operate via an offshore company that taxes on a terratorial basis. Set up a business in Hong Kong and pay yourself dividends from it, ideally to a personal account in a non UK, non Hong Kong and non Thai jurisdiction where you do not live and that does not tax non-residents on foreign income.

So long as you meet the criteria for UK non-residency (which is pretty easy if you don't live there), you are not liable for personal income tax in the UK for income earned overseas (like dividends from a HK company), and the company is only liable for profit sourced in Hong Kong - no UK corporate tax liability.

If you choose to maintain a UK company and pay yourself a salary from it, you're liable for income tax and the company is liable for UK corp tax. Simply fill in a self assesment form and pay them every year when they send you the bill.

Edited August 12, 2014 by rwdrwdrwd

[rwdrwdrwd]

The reason people ask on here is because others have faced similar problems. You get some excellent answers on this forum. You just have to learn to ignore the nonsense posts like yours. A tax haven isn't suitable for a small business. It would cost more than it would save.

Not sure this is necessarily true. A Hong Kong company for example is easily less than 50,000 a year to maintain, perhaps even half that if you shop around.

Of course to comply with Thai regulations the OP will be needing a Thai company as well, but there is nothing to prevent that company from invoicing HK co just enough to meet regulations, qualify the OP for a WP, cover salaries, income tax and accounting fees.

Edited August 12, 2014 by rwdrwdrwd

[damole]

Seems like changes are afoot for non-resident for tax purposes UK citizens. From the Telegraph, "Expat couples could be £4,000 a year worse off under plans to strip non-residents of the personal tax allowance"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/11027075/Expats-face-400-million-tax-raid.html

Edited August 12, 2014 by damole

[ldnguy]

Seems like changes are afoot for non-resident for tax purposes UK citizens. From the Telegraph, "Expat couples could be £4,000 a year worse off under plans to strip non-residents of the personal tax allowance"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/11027075/Expats-face-400-million-tax-raid.html

Yes, this seems like it will happen. Individuals will be £2,000 worse off, as they will have to pay and extra 20% tax on the £10,000 that is now their personal allowance.

[icare999]

There is normally a tick box to indicate that you are non-resident. This is no longer there hence if you cannot enter a valid postcode you cannot move to the next page. I queried this by email and was told that online self assessment was only available to UK residents. Please tell us more about "and even gave me a "dummy" UK postcode". How did you get them to do that?

When I completed my first online self-assessment (from Bangkok) I had the same issue with the postcode. I sent them an email and got this the reply. I've used the "fictitious" postcode ever since!

Dear Mr XXXXXX Thank you for your email. Some customers are having problems with the `postcode' field on the TellUs about you page of the 08/09 HMRC return. This box has been incorrectly made mandatory, so if you do not have a postcode (e.g. overseas addresses, etc) you will receive the error message `Please complete postcode'.To resolve this issue, please use the following fictitious postcode Q1 1IJ (Quebec, One, One, India, Juliet). This will allow you to continue completing the rest of your return.

Regards Online Services Helpdesk Opening hours: 8am to 8pm, 7 days a week. Website:   www.hmrc.gov.ukemail:     [email protected]: 0845 6055999 Minicom:   0845 3667805Fax:       0845 3667828

[icare999]

There is normally a tick box to indicate that you are non-resident. This is no longer there hence if you cannot enter a valid postcode you cannot move to the next page. I queried this by email and was told that online self assessment was only available to UK residents. Please tell us more about "and even gave me a "dummy" UK postcode". How did you get them to do that?

When I completed my first online self-assessment (from Bangkok) I had the same issue with the postcode. I sent them an email and got this the reply. I've used the "fictitious" postcode ever since!

Dear Mr XXXXXX Thank you for your email. Some customers are having problems with the `postcode' field on the TellUs about you page of the 08/09 HMRC return. This box has been incorrectly made mandatory, so if you do not have a postcode (e.g. overseas addresses, etc) you will receive the error message `Please complete postcode'.To resolve this issue, please use the following fictitious postcode Q1 1IJ (Quebec, One, One, India, Juliet). This will allow you to continue completing the rest of your return.

Regards Online Services Helpdesk Opening hours: 8am to 8pm, 7 days a week. Website:   www.hmrc.gov.ukemail:     [email protected]: 0845 6055999 Minicom:   0845 3667805Fax:       0845 3667828

sorry pressed post by accident before adding comment

I was told last friday by Tax help desk that i could not complete m line unless i used a different software than that provided by IR. This was because nearly every year my tax return gets sent back with some trivial thing wrong and i said it would be a lot easier if i could just complete on line. Ive been given same answer for years. Most frustrating since as stated it always gets sent back with some trivia. This year it was fact that they had changed forms and said i needed to fill in a new non resident form when i never needed to before. I did however put all information they needed in notes but they said had to be on form. So ?? i asked since I've been non resident since 1987 and had a letter from IR confirming this why on earth did they not send me form with my tax return . My thai wives tax return was also rejected because they sent her short return and although it showed all her rental income on it they said she had to complete a flu return if she had rental income. ?? so why send her short form when before you've always sent long one and why does short form have section for rental income ?? of course no answer given except repeating they needed more forms.

UK IR is total a total mess

mind you they are so incompetent if anyone wants to avoid tax unlikely they will get caught its pathetic and since cuts of course they have replaced tax officers who knew what they were about with kids who seem to know a fraction of what I know. WAste of time having a help desk IMO.

[elliottm]

I have lived in the kingdom for over 8 years on the extension of stay visa ( retired ) I have no intention of ever returning to the UK neverthe less they HMRC deduct taxes every month from my various pensions and in two years time it will be even more when I start receiving my old age state pension I hate and detest seeing the monies I worked hard for being taxed to support those who have no interest in doing a days work that is one of the reasons I left rip of Britain.

60% of people in UK are net welfare benificiaries (education, healthcare, child benefit, infrastructure etc) so most hard working people take out more than they put in.

If you earn income above 10k you pay tax - consider yourself lucky to be living in a farang friendly, tropical country with enough income to be taxed, things could be worse.

[elliottm]

I have lived in the kingdom for over 8 years on the extension of stay visa ( retired ) I have no intention of ever returning to the UK neverthe less they HMRC deduct taxes every month from my various pensions and in two years time it will be even more when I start receiving my old age state pension I hate and detest seeing the monies I worked hard for being taxed to support those who have no interest in doing a days work that is one of the reasons I left rip of Britain.

The majority in the UK work. It's a small minority that doesn't work and the amount of your tax that goes to them is minimal. That is a very odd reason for leaving a country, especially when you consider where money goes in other countries. What do you think happens to the tax you pay in Thailand? Are you happy how it's spent?

Agreed, unemployment benefit makes up 3-4% of welfare (just above a rounding error). Nearly 2/3 go on pensioners, over a million of whom have left the country, contribute nothing while living in sunny countries at her majesty's tax payers' pleasure.