When do I become a UK non resident

[theoldgit]

As this thread has little, if anything, to do with Visas, or migration, to another country, I'll move it to the Home Country Forum, so that the debate can continue.

[rwdrwdrwd]

If you spend a full tax year out of the UK, you are automatically non tax resident for that year. It is the simplest way.

This is the relevant part of the doc:

Automatic overseas tests

1.4 If you meet any of the automatic overseas tests for a tax year, you are automatically non-resident for that year. You should therefore consider these tests first, as if you meet any one of them, you will not need to consider any of the other parts of the test.

First automatic overseas test

1.5 You were resident in the UK for 1 or more of the 3 tax years preceding the tax year, and you spend fewer than 16 days in the UK in the tax year. If an individual dies in the tax year this test does not apply.

Second automatic overseas test

1.6 You were resident in the UK for none of the 3 tax years preceding the tax year, and you spend fewer than 46 days in the UK in the tax year.

Given you say you left in October 2014, assuming you haven't been back since, if you remain out of the UK until April 6th you will automatically be non tax resident for the 2015 - 2016 tax year.

Edited November 25, 2015 by rwdrwdrwd

[SantiSuk]

To answer JB 300's question:

There is no need to report foreign income if you are completing the SA109 pages as a non-resident (it's non-taxable in the UK for non-residents and nobody, resident or otherwise, is obliged to report any income to HMRC that is not taxable by them). I think that your accountant must be filing you as non-resident. On second thoughts you probably know that since your interest in the uncertainties of the new dividend rules largely applies to non-residents

For those completing completing the standard tax return there is a question that asks "if you had any foreign income do you need to complete the foreign section? Please click here". I haven't checked but I'm pretty sure there are similar questions in the sections of the tax return dealing with investment and interest income.

I should pick you up on a couple of points JB:

1. I'm sure your use of the term non-domiciled was a slip of the pen. Can cause confusion if you muddle up non-dom with non-resident. And ...
2. neither non-dom nor non-resident individuals "only pay the basic rate" (of UK tax on UK dividends) - current rules treat UK dividends as "disregarded income" for non-residents (non-doms are always non-residents as well - I think) and the maximum rate of tax on UK dividends for them would be the 'tax credit' of 10% deducted at source*. [http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/saimmanual/saim1170.htm]

*Maybe that 10% tax credit rate is what you mean by 'basic rate', but that would be a confusing attribution when the basic rate is usually a term reserved for the 20% basic rate of income tax

Yes, us non-residents with UK dividend income are waiting to see with bated breath what happens to disregarded income in the light of changes to the UK taxation of dividends. It could result in significantly reduced taxation if no additional provisions are added to the proposed Finance Bill. Existing legislation says, in so many words, that dividend income is to be disregarded for taxation, except that the tax credit (already suffered at source) remains a tax suffered. Proposed legislation abolishes tax credits without putting any replacement regime in place for non residents. Without additional legislation a non-resident would in 2016 receive a gross dividend without any tax credit deducted at source and with no taxation provisions in place for HMRC to tax such dividends. This would be a significant gimme to non-rezzies like me with significant UK dividend income. That can't be right and so some insiders are hinting at additional legislation to remove the disregarded income rules altogether - yikes, big additional taxation for me and my likes and I for one would probably pull my money out of the UK. Others hint at a replacement withholding tax regime especially for non-residents, which to me seems a hell of a leap for a fairly small population. It strikes many advisers in the field that HMRC did not think through the new dividend taxation regime with full extrapolation to all populations (it would not be the first time). It could be said that the existing regime is quite friendly to non-resident investors, so maybe additional taxation here is to be expected.

For those non-residents who do have dividend income in excess of £5,000 arising in the UK you can get further corroboration of the issue from reading this thread on an Institute of Chartered Accountants Tax Faculty website: http://www.ion.icaew.com/TaxFaculty/post/Taxation-of-dividends-B602EE11FE8F4050B43D48D398696195. Read one of the opening paragraphs "One key issue to which we do not currently have an answer is the change in dividend taxation for non-resident individuals ...... and then read comments by Mark Williams, Bob and Rebecca. My reading of other expert websites comes up with no further/better information on what we can expect from the legislative process. I.e. nobody knows which way it will be resolved.

.........................................................................................................................................................

Not trying to be a clever clogs here. I'm sure I come across as pedantic, but you have to be on anything legal or tax. It's quite possible that inaccuracies slip in on my part as well - so feel free to correct me. It's always dangerous when someone tries to summarise complicated bits of tax legislation when they are not a qualified and current tax adviser (I am not that either - just an ex CA who knows a fair bit about his own personal tax affairs!)

[SantiSuk]

Many thanks for your enlightening and informative comments.

In connection with your first paragraph, I take it, then, that, were I to continue to report my non-residency status to HMRC through my tax returns, there would be no need for me to start declaring the interest which I received on my Bangkok Bank savings deposit account during the preceding tax year? This is my only source of Thai income and amounted to an earth-shattering 554.07 THB for the 2014-15 tax year.

In any event, I somehow doubt that the 22,70 THB (equal to £0.52) tax to which HMRC might be entitled (at a rate of 5%) would be likely, in practice, to make significant inroads into the UK borrowing requirement!

Turning to your second paragraph, you have rather confirmed my suspicions that going down the "commercial software supplier" route would probably be a complete waste of time (and expense) in my case. My tax return is really not all that difficult to complete, and I have devised an Excel spreadsheet to do all the necessary calculations for me. (It might be worth noting, in this connection, that HMRC's calculations of my additional tax liability for the 2014-15 tax year and on-account payments for the 2015-16 tax year which I received in the post 3 weeks ago exactly matched those of my spreadsheet!).

And when it comes to spending 950 THB (= c.£18) to send a paper return back to the UK using Thailand Post's International EMS service versus £24 for the services of a commercial software supplier, it really is a no-brainer, I think!

No reason to report income to HMRC that is not taxable by them. As I said in the last response (posted coterminous with your question), the standard part of the tax return states "if you had any foreign income do you need to complete the foreign section? Please click here (if you do need to compete it)". It is worded that way so that you can ignore it - you don't need to complete the foreign section if you are completing SA 109 and filing as a non resident. I recall specifically asking this question of HMRC by phone when I was first filing returns as non-resident and my question was in relation to my Thai interest income. I recall them saying that they were no at all interested in any income that we have no right to tax.

Interestingly I have never had any problems getting through to talk to a specialist, but the last time was 18 months ago. I always prefaced my question with "this is a question about non-resident status" - the generalist then immediately put me through to an NR specialist in Cardiff. Apparently HMRC are now coming under a lot of flack for lack of response but hsitorically I have always had a lot of time for HMRC. They will answer questions on a no-names basis if you ask them to and their guidance is usually clear; their website is brilliant IMO. I have sympathy with them, being stripped of resources, then panned by the same cost-cutting regime!

[SantiSuk]

If you spend a full tax year out of the UK, you are automatically non tax resident for that year. It is the simplest way.

This is the relevant part of the doc:

Automatic overseas tests

1.4 If you meet any of the automatic overseas tests for a tax year, you are automatically non-resident for that year. You should therefore consider these tests first, as if you meet any one of them, you will not need to consider any of the other parts of the test.

First automatic overseas test

1.5 You were resident in the UK for 1 or more of the 3 tax years preceding the tax year, and you spend fewer than 16 days in the UK in the tax year. If an individual dies in the tax year this test does not apply.

Second automatic overseas test

1.6 You were resident in the UK for none of the 3 tax years preceding the tax year, and you spend fewer than 46 days in the UK in the tax year.

Given you say you left in October 2014, assuming you haven't been back since, if you remain out of the UK until April 6th you will automatically be non tax resident for the 2015 - 2016 tax year.

Yes - I agree with that if your visit patterns are that simple. I find that lots of expats here do revisit the UK at least once a year and some abut up against 90 day rules etc.

Note that exemption from capital gains tax only works in the tax year after you successfully claim non-residence status, but I seem to recall that the five year rule that exempts your stored-up capital gains starts with immediate effect from the beginning of the first year that you sucessfully claim non-resident status.

[JB300]

Thanks SantiSuk... Will read the ICA link with interest as there's been very little posted about the new upcoming changes to dividends save that it comes in on April 6th & there's an allowance of £5,000.

Cheers

JB

[nong38]

You might like to have a look at the Chancellors Autumn Statement due today at 1930 our time, its on the BBC website. Rumour has it there might be mention of non-resident/no dom status.

[rwdrwdrwd]

We'll see - non dom is quite different to non resident. Haven't heard any rumours myself regarding the latter.

Edited November 25, 2015 by rwdrwdrwd

[emilymat]

This non resident issue can be a big or small thing to individuals.

1. For UK pensioners in Thailand who truthfully declare they are non residents, then the pension is frozen. (I don't think this is an issue for the OP).

2. I was advised in 2010 that any use of an 'accommodation address' in the UK for the purposes of disguising non residency could lead not only to sanctions against the pensioner but also to prosecution for the provider of the address. I was quoted 'aiding and abetting' to defraud the UK Pension Agency. Again the OP might not be affected by this, except pretending to live in the UK but not doing so, could also be seen as serious if it ever came to the crunch in some other area.

3. My only understanding of bank advantages is that being a non resident can exclude you from paying tax on any bank interest. (Not worth it in my case). All other UK taxes have to be paid.

4. It used to be that if you spent more than 183 days a year outside the UK you were classed as a non-resident.

5. I was in the UK in June and saw my GP two times as normal. I would expect to receive NHS treatment if required.

6. I was told by DVLA I am not entitled to a UK driving license at present. (Renewal every 3 years over 70). I can drive in the UK on my Thai license for up to one year.

7. I cannot do the national lottery but can buy premium bonds.

These are just points of mine. Like an earlier poster, it does not always seem to pay to be honest with HMG as they kick you in the goolies as often as possible and

that is why many people just keep mum.

[SantiSuk]

Maybe I missed some nuance Emilymat, but I don't think anyone was trying to cheat on taxes (or pensions for that matter) in this thread so to be honest I thought you were going off on a tangent. Perhaps you were anticipating that some might read my comments that you do not have to declare your non-residence as an incitement to defraud the Revnue. That worried me and I did a bit more research. I now realise that:

I WAS WRONG IN AN EARLIER POSTING ON THIS THREAD. YOU ARE REQUIRED TO INFORM HMRC IF YOU ARE LEAVING THE UK TO LIVE ABROAD PERMANENTLY.

[https://www.gov.uk/tax-right-retire-abroad-return-to-uk]

If you normally file a self-assessment then unfortnately that means that you do have to complete that SA109 form (unfortunate because competing SA 109 means having to read a lot of stuff to understand their questions and even then I found it a bit tortuous). You would complete it as either a paper return or using paid for tax-filing software. If you don't normally complete a tax return then you have the option of informing HMRC of your having left the UK or intending to leave on Form R85 (accessible through the link above). I suspect that is an easier route to use if it is an available option to you, but I've not used it myself so will not comment further

That's the main point I would like to make in response to your posting. A couple of other reactions:

There's certainly nothing wrong with maintaining an accommodation address as long as you are not using it to disguise your non-residence - indeed banks and even HMRC are likely to ask you which address you want to use for correspondence after you inform them of your non-resident status.

"My only understanding of bank advantages is that being a non resident can exclude you from paying tax on any bank interest". True, if you are talking about interest arising outside the UK. Not true in respect of UK bank interest - all UK source income (except the state pension), including interest, is subject to taxation even for a non-resident. There are however advantages for non-residents in the extent of tax payable on bank interest. It is "disregarded income" and taxation is limited to the amount of any tax deducted at source (20%). Non-residents can claim back some or all tax on interest if their total UK taxable income is less than their personal allowance, but that's no more than the same rules as applying to residents. Note that the old R85 process of telling banks that they should not deduct interest because you do not expect to be a taxpayer is no longer available to anyone.

Edited November 25, 2015 by SantiSuk

[SantiSuk]

A quick scan of the Autumn statement write-ups by the accounting firms who have published at time of writing indicates that nothing has been said about non-residents and the changes to taxation of dividends. We are none the wiser - next point of potential discovery is publication of the Finance Bill on 9th December (though informed rumours may emerge earlier than that).

Plenty was said about CGT on the homes of non-residents in the UK (already well-flagged) and some worrying comments about potential restrictions on personal allowances available to non-residents (thought to be likely to impact those who reside outside the EU only - ie us!). They warrant separate threads and 2am in the morning is no time to start doing that!!

[emilymat]

Maybe I missed some nuance Emilymat, but I don't think anyone was trying to cheat on taxes (or pensions for that matter) in this thread so to be honest I thought you were going off on a tangent. Perhaps you were anticipating that some might read my comments that you do not have to declare your non-residence as an incitement to defraud the Revnue. That worried me and I did a bit more research. I now realise that:

I WAS WRONG IN AN EARLIER POSTING ON THIS THREAD. YOU ARE REQUIRED TO INFORM HMRC IF YOU ARE LEAVING THE UK TO LIVE ABROAD PERMANENTLY.

[https://www.gov.uk/tax-right-retire-abroad-return-to-uk]

If you normally file a self-assessment then unfortnately that means that you do have to complete that SA109 form (unfortunate because competing SA 109 means having to read a lot of stuff to understand their questions and even then I found it a bit tortuous). You would complete it as either a paper return or using paid for tax-filing software. If you don't normally complete a tax return then you have the option of informing HMRC of your having left the UK or intending to leave on Form R85 (accessible through the link above). I suspect that is an easier route to use if it is an available option to you, but I've not used it myself so will not comment further

That's the main point I would like to make in response to your posting. A couple of other reactions:

There's certainly nothing wrong with maintaining an accommodation address as long as you are not using it to disguise your non-residence - indeed banks and even HMRC are likely to ask you which address you want to use for correspondence after you inform them of your non-resident status.

"My only understanding of bank advantages is that being a non resident can exclude you from paying tax on any bank interest". True, if you are talking about interest arising outside the UK. Not true in respect of UK bank interest - all UK source income (except the state pension), including interest, is subject to taxation even for a non-resident. There are however advantages for non-residents in the extent of tax payable on bank interest. It is "disregarded income" and taxation is limited to the amount of any tax deducted at source (20%). Non-residents can claim back some or all tax on interest if their total UK taxable income is less than their personal allowance, but that's no more than the same rules as applying to residents. Note that the old R85 process of telling banks that they should not deduct interest because you do not expect to be a taxpayer is no longer available to anyone.

Sorry for the misunderstanding. Just the ramblings of an old fogie.

I was in fact referring to the Juice777 post in which he said he had an address 'of sorts' using his sisters address for post etc. I also used to use my daughters for the same reason, whilst living in Thailand permanently (so I did not live there). It was that situation that led to the 'warning' I received from the Pension Agency.

Hope that clarifies it.

[OJAS]

Many thanks for your enlightening and informative comments.

In connection with your first paragraph, I take it, then, that, were I to continue to report my non-residency status to HMRC through my tax returns, there would be no need for me to start declaring the interest which I received on my Bangkok Bank savings deposit account during the preceding tax year? This is my only source of Thai income and amounted to an earth-shattering 554.07 THB for the 2014-15 tax year.

In any event, I somehow doubt that the 22,70 THB (equal to £0.52) tax to which HMRC might be entitled (at a rate of 5%) would be likely, in practice, to make significant inroads into the UK borrowing requirement!

Turning to your second paragraph, you have rather confirmed my suspicions that going down the "commercial software supplier" route would probably be a complete waste of time (and expense) in my case. My tax return is really not all that difficult to complete, and I have devised an Excel spreadsheet to do all the necessary calculations for me. (It might be worth noting, in this connection, that HMRC's calculations of my additional tax liability for the 2014-15 tax year and on-account payments for the 2015-16 tax year which I received in the post 3 weeks ago exactly matched those of my spreadsheet!).

And when it comes to spending 950 THB (= c.£18) to send a paper return back to the UK using Thailand Post's International EMS service versus £24 for the services of a commercial software supplier, it really is a no-brainer, I think!

No reason to report income to HMRC that is not taxable by them. As I said in the last response (posted coterminous with your question), the standard part of the tax return states "if you had any foreign income do you need to complete the foreign section? Please click here (if you do need to compete it)". It is worded that way so that you can ignore it - you don't need to complete the foreign section if you are completing SA 109 and filing as a non resident. I recall specifically asking this question of HMRC by phone when I was first filing returns as non-resident and my question was in relation to my Thai interest income. I recall them saying that they were no at all interested in any income that we have no right to tax.

Interestingly I have never had any problems getting through to talk to a specialist, but the last time was 18 months ago. I always prefaced my question with "this is a question about non-resident status" - the generalist then immediately put me through to an NR specialist in Cardiff. Apparently HMRC are now coming under a lot of flack for lack of response but hsitorically I have always had a lot of time for HMRC. They will answer questions on a no-names basis if you ask them to and their guidance is usually clear; their website is brilliant IMO. I have sympathy with them, being stripped of resources, then panned by the same cost-cutting regime!

Many thanks for clarifying the foreign income point.

I agree with your comments about HMRC - although I tend to contact them by email through the secure online SA facility which I signed up for, even though I don't use it for filing returns - since I have found it a useful means of checking whether my paper returns have been safely received at the UK end (as a belt and braces to EMS tracking) and also whether payments which I have made have been processed. Again I have found their responses to be prompt and clear.

However, I do fear for the service we'll be receiving from them in the future, particularly given George Osborne's reference in yesterday's Autumn Statement to a whole swathe of tax offices being closed.

[Gonsalviz]

When life ends/

Are you sure about that I hope so but I am not sure if that is the case

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

Definitely applies to Americans.

[moobie]

For your general status on NHS treatment/cost issues this may be of interest (read the pdf within the article if you have the time.) :-

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/dec/04/government-plans-to-extend-nhs-charges-for-non-eu-patients

For UK Residency status this may help :-

https://www.gov.uk/tax-foreign-income/residence

It may also be worth noting that recently the UK Government was advertising through the press increased Banking-information sharing with other nations. How this information will be used and to what extent it is shared with other UK agencies/services is anyones guess. Luckily, for now, Thailand is not one of those nations sharing this info.

[donnybay]

Tell them nothing and never use the Embassy for anything if possible

Spot on, been away for a few years, but I am still registered at my local surgery in the uk, still have a bank that I access with UK VPN, and still use my old address, although no longer on electoral roll

[salavan]

It is d_mn complicated! It's beyond the realms of simple internet forum advice because relaible advice would need full details of your finances, personal status, travel history etc and you aint gonna be prepared to post that in public!

If you can't put in the reading (and re-reading) you'll need to pay for advice unfortunately.

You will still be paying tax/doing tax returns in respect of any UK source income (unless you have a simple situation, like pension-only); achieving non-resident status does not remove the need to pay all taxation. Indeed my first question would be why do you need to attain non-resident for tax purposes status anyway? If you had CGT liabilities in the UK or substantial investment income arising in the UK, or substantial earnings here in Thailand I could understand the need, but for the average expat who retires here with insubstantial income-earning assets and a pension there is no benefit - indeed there are disadvantages in areas of health access and banking.

[Retired Chartered Accountant]

Another future disadvantage will be the governments intention to abolish non residents uk personal allowance due in 2017 any uk income will be taxed starting from zero

[salavan]

You will still be paying tax/doing tax returns in respect of any UK source income (unless you have a simple situation, like pension-only); achieving non-resident status does not remove the need to pay all taxation. Indeed my first question would be why do you need to attain non-resident for tax purposes status anyway?

Which then begs the rather obvious question in my case as to why I need to report my non-residency status to HMRC at all each year through including completed RR pages with my tax return, if I am still going to be taxed on my UK-generated pension and rental income regardless anyway.

If I didn't have to complete the RR pages I would be able to file my tax returns electronically using the standard HMRC online facility. As it is, solely because of the need for the RR pages, I have to complete my tax returns in my own fair hand and send these by snail mail back to HMRC in the UK. The only way in which I could submit a tax return online would appear to be through enlisting the services of some "commercial software supplier" or other - who would presumably charge me handsomely for the use of their services.

It strikes me as utterly bizarrely paradoxical - as well as completely unacceptable in this day and age - for HMRC to place such formidable obstacles in the way of non-residents living overseas who wish to file their tax returns by electronic means.

What are RR pages ?

[Satcommlee]

Do your tax return and declare the rental income or you will be fined like 1000 quid, happened to a mate of mine.

[juice777]

It is d_mn complicated! It's beyond the realms of simple internet forum advice because relaible advice would need full details of your finances, personal status, travel history etc and you aint gonna be prepared to post that in public!

If you can't put in the reading (and re-reading) you'll need to pay for advice unfortunately.

You will still be paying tax/doing tax returns in respect of any UK source income (unless you have a simple situation, like pension-only); achieving non-resident status does not remove the need to pay all taxation. Indeed my first question would be why do you need to attain non-resident for tax purposes status anyway? If you had CGT liabilities in the UK or substantial investment income arising in the UK, or substantial earnings here in Thailand I could understand the need, but for the average expat who retires here with insubstantial income-earning assets and a pension there is no benefit - indeed there are disadvantages in areas of health access and banking.

[Retired Chartered Accountant]

Another future disadvantage will be the governments intention to abolish non residents uk personal allowance due in 2017 any uk income will be taxed starting from zero

I think they scraped that ideal

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/expat-money/11272572/Expats-will-keep-their-tax-break.html

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

Edited December 6, 2015 by juice777

[juice777]

Do your tax return and declare the rental income or you will be fined like 1000 quid, happened to a mate of mine.

I do

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

[KittenKong]

"My only understanding of bank advantages is that being a non resident can exclude you from paying tax on any bank interest". True, if you are talking about interest arising outside the UK. Not true in respect of UK bank interest - all UK source income (except the state pension), including interest, is subject to taxation even for a non-resident. There are however advantages for non-residents in the extent of tax payable on bank interest. It is "disregarded income" and taxation is limited to the amount of any tax deducted at source (20%). Non-residents can claim back some or all tax on interest if their total UK taxable income is less than their personal allowance, but that's no more than the same rules as applying to residents. Note that the old R85 process of telling banks that they should not deduct interest because you do not expect to be a taxpayer is no longer available to anyone.

Actually it's perfectly practical to fill in a form R105 and get interest paid gross, at which point the conditions about disregarded income still apply. I pay no tax at all on my UK bank interest.

Also there is no liability (currently) to any extra tax on dividends, or any liability to CGT on share purchases/sales.

The above may change at some point but so far it isnt clear how and when.

[JB300]

"My only understanding of bank advantages is that being a non resident can exclude you from paying tax on any bank interest". True, if you are talking about interest arising outside the UK. Not true in respect of UK bank interest - all UK source income (except the state pension), including interest, is subject to taxation even for a non-resident. There are however advantages for non-residents in the extent of tax payable on bank interest. It is "disregarded income" and taxation is limited to the amount of any tax deducted at source (20%). Non-residents can claim back some or all tax on interest if their total UK taxable income is less than their personal allowance, but that's no more than the same rules as applying to residents. Note that the old R85 process of telling banks that they should not deduct interest because you do not expect to be a taxpayer is no longer available to anyone.

Actually it's perfectly practical to fill in a form R105 and get interest paid gross, at which point the conditions about disregarded income still apply. I pay no tax at all on my UK bank interest.

Also there is no liability (currently) to any extra tax on dividends, or any liability to CGT on share purchases/sales.

The above may change at some point but so far it isnt clear how and when.

Still waiting for the full down-low on the new Dividend Tax regs, but if the government were to remove the high rate tax benefits on this, and remove the Personal Taxation Allowance/CGT benefits (can't see how they can do this one without massively impacting foreign investment) then I'll be booking a nice 47 day trip back to the UK to reclaim residency, kicking my tenants out to re-establish primary residency, renewing my driving license, popping into the GP for a check-up/ any remedial work, topping up my ISA, buying some Lloyds shares in the sell-off... All whilst claiming job seekers allowance.

Actually, the more I think about it, the more the above "Plan" makes sense...

[Eff1n2ret]

Still waiting for the full down-low on the new Dividend Tax regs, but if the government were to remove the high rate tax benefits on this, and remove the Personal Taxation Allowance/CGT benefits (can't see how they can do this one without massively impacting foreign investment) then I'll be booking a nice 47 day trip back to the UK to reclaim residency, kicking my tenants out to re-establish primary residency, renewing my driving license, popping into the GP for a check-up/ any remedial work, topping up my ISA, buying some Lloyds shares in the sell-off... All whilst claiming job seekers allowance.

Actually, the more I think about it, the more the above "Plan" makes sense...

It might make sense in your situation, but there would have to be a big compensation for the combined effect of losing the rental income on your property and paying the hated council tax. I don't know how easy it would be to sustain a job-seekers allowance claim without actually living there.

[JB300]

Yeah, would only do that as long as it took to sell the property without having to pay any CGT & was joking (saber rattling) about claiming JSA, have never claimed a penny in benefits as I'm from the old school that would only claim them because they needed them, not because they can.

Edited December 6, 2015 by JB300

[wordchild]

"My only understanding of bank advantages is that being a non resident can exclude you from paying tax on any bank interest". True, if you are talking about interest arising outside the UK. Not true in respect of UK bank interest - all UK source income (except the state pension), including interest, is subject to taxation even for a non-resident. There are however advantages for non-residents in the extent of tax payable on bank interest. It is "disregarded income" and taxation is limited to the amount of any tax deducted at source (20%). Non-residents can claim back some or all tax on interest if their total UK taxable income is less than their personal allowance, but that's no more than the same rules as applying to residents. Note that the old R85 process of telling banks that they should not deduct interest because you do not expect to be a taxpayer is no longer available to anyone.

Actually it's perfectly practical to fill in a form R105 and get interest paid gross, at which point the conditions about disregarded income still apply. I pay no tax at all on my UK bank interest.

Also there is no liability (currently) to any extra tax on dividends, or any liability to CGT on share purchases/sales.

The above may change at some point but so far it isnt clear how and when.

Still waiting for the full down-low on the new Dividend Tax regs, but if the government were to remove the high rate tax benefits on this, and remove the Personal Taxation Allowance/CGT benefits (can't see how they can do this one without massively impacting foreign investment) then I'll be booking a nice 47 day trip back to the UK to reclaim residency, kicking my tenants out to re-establish primary residency, renewing my driving license, popping into the GP for a check-up/ any remedial work, topping up my ISA, buying some Lloyds shares in the sell-off... All whilst claiming job seekers allowance.

Actually, the more I think about it, the more the above "Plan" makes sense...

the 2016 finance bill is due to be published later this week; this should include details as to how the new dividend tax is to operate incl whether non resident owners of UK shares will be impacted.

[OJAS]

It is d_mn complicated! It's beyond the realms of simple internet forum advice because relaible advice would need full details of your finances, personal status, travel history etc and you aint gonna be prepared to post that in public!

If you can't put in the reading (and re-reading) you'll need to pay for advice unfortunately.

You will still be paying tax/doing tax returns in respect of any UK source income (unless you have a simple situation, like pension-only); achieving non-resident status does not remove the need to pay all taxation. Indeed my first question would be why do you need to attain non-resident for tax purposes status anyway? If you had CGT liabilities in the UK or substantial investment income arising in the UK, or substantial earnings here in Thailand I could understand the need, but for the average expat who retires here with insubstantial income-earning assets and a pension there is no benefit - indeed there are disadvantages in areas of health access and banking.

[Retired Chartered Accountant]

Another future disadvantage will be the governments intention to abolish non residents uk personal allowance due in 2017 any uk income will be taxed starting from zero

I think they scraped that ideal

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/expat-money/11272572/Expats-will-keep-their-tax-break.html

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But maybe not entirely - the Telegraph article does include the following paragraph which sounds ominous (on the basis of the words which I have indicated in bold):-

"However, in his Autumn Statement yesterday, the Chancellor said there will be no change for the time being to the current rules governing an individual’s entitlement to the allowance."

[juice777]

It is d_mn complicated! It's beyond the realms of simple internet forum advice because relaible advice would need full details of your finances, personal status, travel history etc and you aint gonna be prepared to post that in public!

If you can't put in the reading (and re-reading) you'll need to pay for advice unfortunately.

You will still be paying tax/doing tax returns in respect of any UK source income (unless you have a simple situation, like pension-only); achieving non-resident status does not remove the need to pay all taxation. Indeed my first question would be why do you need to attain non-resident for tax purposes status anyway? If you had CGT liabilities in the UK or substantial investment income arising in the UK, or substantial earnings here in Thailand I could understand the need, but for the average expat who retires here with insubstantial income-earning assets and a pension there is no benefit - indeed there are disadvantages in areas of health access and banking.

[Retired Chartered Accountant]

Another future disadvantage will be the governments intention to abolish non residents uk personal allowance due in 2017 any uk income will be taxed starting from zero

I think they scraped that ideal

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/expat-money/11272572/Expats-will-keep-their-tax-break.html

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

But maybe not entirely - the Telegraph article does include the following paragraph which sounds ominous (on the basis of the words which I have indicated in bold):-

"However, in his Autumn Statement yesterday, the Chancellor said there will be no change for the time being to the current rules governing an individual’s entitlement to the allowance."

Yes you are right it dose say that but I am sure I read it somewhere else but couldn't fine the right Website, also I can't find anything after 2014 which says they are thinking about

So I hope they have scraped it

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

[KittenKong]

the 2016 finance bill is due to be published later this week; this should include details as to how the new dividend tax is to operate incl whether non resident owners of UK shares will be impacted.

Presumably details of what is to happen to the 20% withholding tax will also be included?

[wordchild]

the draft of the 2016 finance bill is due to be published tomorrow (9th December), there will then be a 2 month window for consultation and representation. As far as I am aware, anyone is free to send in comment even Thai based expats!

Edited December 8, 2015 by wordchild