UK tax for expats made easy

HMRC will consider you a UK resident if either you:

• Spent 183 days or more in the UK during a tax year
• Owned or rented your only home for 90 days or more in the UK, and spent at least 30 days there

The double taxation agreement (DTA) is an agreement between two countries that prevents you from paying tax twice on the same income. 

Here’s a list of the countries that have a DTA with the UK.

HMRC will tax your global income so you need to include both (UK and foreign) on your UK Self Assessment tax return. 

If the foreign income isn’t from a country with a DTA with the UK, then you’ll have to pay tax in both countries. 

If the foreign income is from a country with a DTA with the UK, you can claim it back as tax relief on your UK tax return.

In this case, you’ll need to file a UK Self Assessment tax return. You only need to include and pay tax on the income you earned in the UK. 

If your country of residence has a DTA with the UK, you can usually claim the UK tax paid back.  

You can also choose to stay a non-resident by claiming the remittance basis. You’ll still need to pay UK tax on UK income but not on your foreign income, which will be taxed in its country of origin.

Remittance basis means that you won’t have to pay UK tax on foreign earnings as long as you don’t bring them into a UK bank account. 

You give up your tax-free allowances in the UK when you claim the remittance basis.

A non-domiciled person, or a non-dom, is a person who is living in the UK, but considers their permanent home to not be the UK. 

Read more about what tax implications come with being non-dom here.

HMRC have announced a change for PAYE high earners. If you earn less than £150k from your PAYE salary, you will not have to file a UK tax return in the 2023/24 tax year.

You’ll still need to file a tax return if you earned £100k or more during the 2022/23 tax year.