You become a non-resident of the United Kingdom when you decide to leave the country for living and work purposes, under the reporting standards wherein you have a tax residence and obligation to another nation. However, there are still planned outlines that you can make use of to visit the country for business and family trips without affecting your U.K. non-resident tax resident status. In our article, we will consider the rules and regulations to follow for U.K. expats to spend in the country while retaining their non-resident tax status.
What is the tax rule to become a non-resident in the U.K?
These standards are a 183-day tax rule wherein U.K expats become non-residents of the country when they live and work in a different country for 183 days or more. They are also bound to be taxpayers of the country they live and work in if they wish to withdraw their tax status in the U.K.
When the U.K government starts considering you a non-resident with respect to U.K taxation, you are allowed to visit the country while retaining your non-resident tax status in the U.K. People who move to countries with a lower standard of living can save up a considerable part of their taxes by remaining a U.K expat and following the non-resident tax rules. This is because the earning potential in such countries is high, but spending is low, along with taxes, enabling U.K expats to save more and spend less.
How many days are U.K expats allowed to spend in the country while retaining their non-resident tax status?
There are different aspects that define how many days you can spend in the U.K as a U.K expat without letting go of your non-resident tax status. All conditions depend on your ties to the U.K, what you are visiting the country for and what is your country status in your resident country.
You can maintain your non-resident tax status in the U.K if you spend 46 or fewer days in the country. This is also subject to you not being classified as a U.K resident in the last three years, ever. If you have had resident status in the last three years, you can only spend 16 or fewer days in the country whilst holding your non-resident tax status. In some conditions, you can also spend 90 or more days in the U.K whilst maintaining your non-resident tax status, but for that, you need to have at most three ties or less with the country.
What are the non-resident ties to be maintained in the U.K?
If you want to avoid U.K ties and continue being in the country whilst maintaining your non-resident tax status, you need to –
- Own a residential property in which you have not spent more than one day every year in the U.K
- Work for 40 days or less in the U.K in a tax year
- Spent more time in another country whilst holding your tax resident status there than you have spent in the U.K in that particular year
- Spent less than 90 days in the U.K in the current or last two tax years
- Have fewer or no family members living abroad with you
If you have two or fewer ties in the U.K, you can spend at most 120 days in the U.K. If you have one or fewer ties to the U.K, you can spend at most 182 days whilst maintaining your non-resident tax status. Lastly, you can avoid having ties to the U.K if you want to remain a non-resident and avoid paying worldwide U.K tax on your income.
Final words
You can avoid all your liabilities towards the U.K government as a U.K expat under the U.K non-resident tax rules by avoiding any ties to the U.K. The fewer ties you hold, the higher the chance of the U.K government not expecting any tax-payer responsibilities from you. You can still visit family and friends or make a business trip to the country as a Standard Visitor without having to worry about becoming a tax resident again. In certain circumstances, for example, a medical treatment, you can stay in the country for longer than six months and still retain your non-tax resident status if the government permits.
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