Income Tax when arriving in or leaving the UK

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Income Tax when arriving in the UK
Income Tax when leaving the UK

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Income Tax when arriving in the UK

Income Tax when arriving in the UK

When you come to live or work in the UK, the UK Income Tax you'll pay depends on how long you'll be here and whether you intend to live here permanently. There are special rules for entertainers, students, teachers, sports people, Irish citizens and Irish income.

Will you have to pay UK Income Tax?

The UK Income Tax you'll pay depends on whether you're 'resident', 'ordinarily resident' or 'domiciled' in the UK. You can be more than one of these - or none.

Resident

If you're in the UK for 183 days or more in a tax year, you're resident for that year for tax purposes.
If you come to live in the UK permanently or to remain for three years or more you're resident from the date of arrival.
You're also treated as resident if you're in the UK for an average of 91 days or more in a tax year - worked out over a maximum of four consecutive tax years.

Ordinarily resident

If you're resident in the UK year after year you will normally be treated as ordinarily resident.
You're treated as ordinarily resident in the UK from the date you arrive if it's clear that you intend to stay for at least three years.

Domiciled

Your domicile is normally acquired at birth, but this is a general law concept covering a range of factors.

Residence, ordinary residence and domicile - more detailed definitions (PDF 640K)

Complete tax forms to establish your residence and domicile status

What you'll pay Income Tax on

If you're both resident and ordinarily resident

You'll pay Income Tax on all your income from:

work you do in the UK
UK pensions
UK investments

If you're UK domiciled you'll also pay tax on all your overseas income - but you may be entitled to a ten per cent deduction from the amount due on overseas pensions.

If you're not UK domiciled you'll usually pay tax only on overseas income you bring into the UK. But you'll pay tax on:

all your earnings if you work overseas for a UK employer
all your earnings if you do some work in the UK for an overseas employer
all your income from investments in the Republic of Ireland (ROI)
90 per cent of a pension from the ROI - unless it's an Irish government pension and you are a UK national

Also read later section 'If you already pay tax on your overseas income'.

There are special tax allowances for:

seafarers who spend long periods outside the UK
people who get overseas pensions

Tax rules for UK resident seafarers

More about overseas pensions (PDF 57K)

If you're resident but not ordinarily resident

If you're resident but not ordinarily resident you'll pay tax on all your UK income.

You can usually pay tax only on overseas income you bring into the UK. But you'll pay tax on:

all your income from investments in the ROI
90 per cent of a pension from the ROI - unless it's an Irish government pension

You'll pay tax on earnings for work done abroad that you bring into the UK.

If you're not resident

You'll pay tax on your income from:

work you do in the UK
UK pensions
UK investments
rental income from UK property

You won't pay tax on your overseas income even if you bring it into the UK.

Income Tax allowances

All UK residents get personal tax-free allowances to reduce their tax.

Read about the Personal Allowance

Find out more about Income Tax

Full list of people who get Income Tax allowances

Do you need to complete a tax return?

If the income you pay tax on is more than your allowances, you may be able to pay the tax through PAYE (Pay As You Earn) if you're employed. If you're not employed, you'll need to complete a tax return.

Find out if you need to complete a tax return

Coming into the UK part way through the year

When you come to the UK part way through a tax year you'll normally only pay tax on income you get after you arrive if:

you come to the UK to stay for at least two years or to take up permanent residence
you weren't ordinarily resident in the UK before you arrived

Otherwise you may have to pay UK tax on your income for the whole year.

Either way, you'll always get your full year's Personal Allowance.

If you already pay tax on your overseas income

The UK has 'double taxation agreements' with many other countries to make sure that you don't pay tax twice on the same income.

Even if there's no agreement, you can usually still claim a reduction for any overseas tax you've paid.

More about tax on foreign savings and investments