UK Tax Planning Advice
For Expats

UK tax planning for expats means arranging your residence, income and asset sales so that you pay the UK tax you are legally required to pay, and no more. It covers areas such as breaking UK tax residence, structuring income, timing property sales and claiming relief under double taxation agreements. The aim is to make decisions before they become tax problems.

In many cases, yes. Once you are non-resident, the UK generally only taxes your UK-source income, such as rent from UK property, and gains on UK property and land. Your overseas income and most other gains fall outside UK tax, although you may owe tax in the country where you live. You need to genuinely meet the Statutory Residence Test, and a UK tax residence assessment confirms where you stand.

UK residence is decided each tax year by the Statutory Residence Test, which looks at the days you spend in the UK, the time you work here and your ties to the country. Moving abroad is not enough on its own: you need to meet an automatic overseas test or stay within the day limits that apply given your ties. Planning your departure date and day count in advance is the most reliable way to break residence cleanly. Our guide to breaking residence explains the steps.

Split year treatment divides the tax year in which you leave or arrive in the UK into a UK part and an overseas part, so you are only taxed as a UK resident for the UK part. It only applies if you meet specific conditions, for example starting full-time work overseas. If you do not qualify, you are treated as UK resident for the whole year. See our tax advice when leaving the UK for how we plan around it.

If you leave the UK but return within five years, certain income and gains you received while abroad can be taxed in the year you come back. This includes gains on assets you owned before you left and some other types of income. The rules generally apply to people who were UK resident for at least four of the seven tax years before leaving. Planning ahead lets you time disposals so they fall outside these rules.

Non-residents are generally only subject to UK capital gains tax on UK property and land, including some indirect disposals such as shares in a company that mainly holds UK property. A disposal of UK property must be reported to HMRC, and any tax paid, within 60 days of completion, and you may need to report it even where no tax is payable. We prepare these through our capital gains tax returns service.

The Foreign Income and Gains (FIG) regime replaced the remittance basis from 6 April 2025. If you become UK resident after at least ten consecutive tax years of non-residence, you can claim exemption from UK tax on your foreign income and gains for your first four years of residence. The claim is made through your tax return, so timing and reporting matter. Read our guide to the FIG regime for the advantages, disadvantages and claim deadline.

Once you are UK resident again, your worldwide income and gains are generally taxable in the UK unless you qualify for the FIG regime or a double taxation agreement gives relief. Returning expats therefore benefit from planning their arrival date and how their assets are held before they move. Our tax advice when moving to the UK covers this in detail.

The UK has one of the largest networks of double taxation agreements in the world. These treaties decide which country can tax particular income and often provide an exemption or a foreign tax credit, so you are not taxed twice on the same income. They also contain tie-breaker rules for people who are resident in both countries. Our UK double taxation relief service helps you claim the relief you are entitled to.

You generally need to file if you have UK income that is not fully taxed at source, such as rental profits or self-employment income, if you sell UK property, or if you need to claim a relief such as the FIG regime. If your only UK income is taxed through PAYE, you may not need to file. Our UK tax return support for expats can confirm whether you do.

We agree a fixed fee before any work begins, so you know the cost upfront. The fee depends on the scope of the advice, such as whether it covers a single decision like selling UK property or a wider review of your residence, income and gains. Book a consultation and we will confirm exactly what is included.

Before the event that changes your tax position: before you leave or return to the UK, before you sell UK property and before you start working from another country. Once a tax year has ended or a sale has completed, your options are far more limited. If you already work remotely, see our UK tax advice for digital nomads.