Coming to work in the UK
In this section:
- Documents you need before you can work in the UK
- Paying UK tax and National Insurance – an introduction
- Working for someone else (employed)
- Working for yourself (self-employed)
- Working in the construction (building) industry
- Tax on income and gains outside the UK
- Financial help if you are on a low wage or have children
- The National Minimum Wage
Tax on income and gains outside the UK
If you live most of the time in the UK, and are resident here but have your permanent home in another country, you may need to decide how you want to pay tax on the income and ‘gains’ (taxable profits from the sale of property or investments) you earn abroad. There are two choices and it is important to decide which is best for you.
On this page:
- How ‘residence’ and ‘domicile’ affect your tax
- Your tax if you choose the remittance basis
- Allowances and reliefs if you don’t choose the remittance basis
- Help and advice
- More useful links
How ‘residence’ and ‘domicile’ affect your tax
Understanding ‘residence’ and ‘domicile’
You are probably ‘resident in the UK for tax purposes’ but ‘domiciled abroad’ if all of the following apply:
- you live most of the time in the UK
- you and your parents were born abroad
- your permanent home is abroad
- you intend to return to your home abroad
You may be treated as ‘not ordinarily resident’ if both of the following apply:
- you have only recently arrived in the UK
- you do not intend to live here for more than a couple of years
Find out more about the meaning of residence and domicile (PDF 371K)
How you pay tax
If you are ‘domiciled abroad’ or ‘not ordinarily resident’ in the UK you can choose how you want to pay tax on your foreign income and gains (a 'gain' is when something you own is sold for a profit).
You can:
- either pay tax on the ‘arising basis’ - which means you pay tax on all of your UK and foreign income and gains
- or you can pay tax on the 'remittance basis' - see the table below for what this means for you
Your tax if you choose the remittance basis
The table below shows what you pay tax on if you choose the remittance basis - this depends on your residence.
The information after the table tells you about the effect on your tax-free allowances and about possible extra charges.
| Residence/domicile status | What you pay tax on if you choose the remittance basis |
|---|---|
| Not ordinarily resident (and domiciled abroad) |
|
| Resident in the UK for tax purposes but domiciled abroad |
|
Tax allowances if you choose the remittance basis
If the amount of foreign income and/or gains that you leave abroad is £2,000 or more for the year, you may lose your annual UK tax-free personal allowances and Capital Gains Tax annual exempt amount. (These are explained later in this guide.)
This rule applies whether you are ‘not ordinarily resident’ or ‘resident in the UK for tax but domiciled abroad’.
Tax charges if you choose the remittance basis
If you’ve been resident in the UK for more than seven out of the previous nine tax years, excluding the current tax year, you may have to pay a £30,000 charge each year - called the ‘remittance basis charge’.
What to do if you want to pay tax on the remittance basis
If the foreign income and/or gains that you leave outside the UK for a tax year are more than £2,000 you must claim the remittance basis by completing a Self Assessment tax return at the end of the tax year. This is an online or paper form that you have to complete and send to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) every year. Follow the link below to find out more.
You also use the tax return to claim relief (to ask to pay reduced tax or no tax) for any foreign tax you have paid on your foreign income and gains, and to tell HMRC about foreign income and gains that you bring into the UK.
If your foreign income and gains that you leave offshore are under £2,000
If the foreign income and/or gains that you leave outside the UK for a tax year are £2,000 or less, you can use the remittance basis without making a claim. But if you do bring any of it into the UK you must still complete a Self Assessment tax return to tell us about it and pay UK tax on it.
Find out about Self Assessment tax returns
Allowances and reliefs if you don’t choose the remittance basis
In this case, you will be taxed on the ‘arising’ basis, which means you:
- keep your Personal Allowances
- keep your Capital Gains Tax annual exempt amount
- pay tax on all your foreign income and gains
- claim double tax relief if you have already paid taxes overseas
- don’t pay the £30,000 remittance basis charge
- must complete a Self Assessment tax return
You can read more about the Personal Allowance and Capital Gains Tax annual exempt amount below.
How to tell HMRC about your foreign income and/or gains
You can tell HMRC about foreign income and gains by completing a Self Assessment tax return. You can also use the tax return to claim relief for any foreign tax you have paid on your foreign income and gains. The tax return is an online or paper form that you have to complete and return every year. Follow the link below to find out more.
Find out about Self Assessment tax returns
Personal Allowances
The Personal Allowance is an amount of income you can normally receive
tax-free each tax year. For the tax year 2008-09 the tax-free Personal
Allowance is £6,035. This means you only pay Income Tax on taxable earnings
above £6,035.
However if you are claiming the remittance basis you may lose your annual
UK tax-free Personal Allowance and any other allowances - such as Blind
Person's Allowance - to which you are otherwise entitled. (See the earlier
section ‘Allowances and charges if you choose the remittance basis’.)
Personal Allowance - find out more
Blind Person’s Allowance - find out more
Capital Gains Tax annual exempt amount
Capital Gains Tax is a tax on the profit or ‘gain’ you make when you sell, give away, transfer or exchange ('dispose of') something of value - ‘an asset’. The Capital Gains Tax ‘annual exempt amount’ in 2008-09 is £9,600. This means you only pay Capital Gains Tax on ‘gains’ (profits from the sale of, for example, property or investments) above £9,600.
However if you are claiming the remittance basis (see ‘Tax allowances if you choose the remittance basis’ above) you may lose your UK Capital Gains Tax annual exempt amount (‘allowance’).
Capital Gains Tax - find out more
Help and advice
Residency, domicile and tax on foreign income and gains are complicated. You can get help and advice on your situation from your Tax Office. You’ll find the number on any letters you have been sent by us. Or you can find your Tax Office by following the link below.
