Tax advice for moving to the UK: residence, split year and the four-year FIG regime

You become UK resident for a tax year if the Statutory Residence Test says so, and the UK tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April. You could be resident by spending 183 days or more here, by having a UK home and spending time in it, by working full-time in the UK, or by meeting enough ties. A move in the middle of a year may qualify for split year treatment.

If you were not UK resident in any of the previous three tax years, you are automatically non-resident if you spend fewer than 46 days in the UK in the year. Between 46 and 90 days you need all four ties to become resident, and above 120 days only two ties are needed. At 183 days you are resident regardless. Ties and day counts must be tested together.

Split year treatment divides the tax year in which you arrive into a non-UK part and a UK part, so that UK tax on your overseas income applies only from the date you arrive. It applies only if you meet one of the specific cases, for example starting full-time work in the UK or starting to have your only home here. Without a qualifying case, you are UK resident for the whole year.

You must become UK resident under the Statutory Residence Test after at least ten consecutive tax years of non-UK residence. The relief covers your first four tax years of UK residence. Members of the House of Commons or House of Lords are excluded. You make a claim in your Self Assessment return for each year, so the relief is never automatic and can be reviewed annually.

Money you bring is not taxed just for arriving. Tax depends on what the money represents. Savings that came from taxed earnings or gifts are normally just capital. Income and gains arising in the UK tax year are taxable unless the FIG regime relief is claimed. Records matter, because later years may require you to show where funds came from.

For up to four years, qualifying new residents can claim FIG regime relief on foreign interest, dividends, rental profits and gains from non-UK assets. After that, foreign interest is taxed in the UK as it arises, whether or not you transfer it. The claim has a cost, because the personal allowance is lost for any year in which you claim. We model the numbers each year.

If you are UK resident, earnings for work physically done in the UK are taxed here, whatever the employer's location. Employment income may qualify for Overseas Workday Relief for qualifying new residents on the part of duties performed abroad, up to the lower of £300,000 or 30% of total employment income. Contracts, payroll and time records need care, so check your set-up before you start.

It lets qualifying new residents claim relief on the part of their employment income that relates to duties performed outside the UK, in the first four tax years of residence. From 6 April 2025 relief is capped at the lower of £300,000 or 30% of total employment income. Employees no longer need to keep the pay offshore. It needs an election and careful workday records.

Buying before you arrive, or soon after, generally means paying the 2% non-UK resident Stamp Duty Land Tax surcharge in England and Northern Ireland, although it can be reclaimed if you then spend enough days in the UK. A home can also act as an accommodation tie and may help trigger residence under the SRT. The order of purchase, arrival date and tax residence therefore deserves planning. Higher rates for additional dwellings may also apply.

UK residents are generally taxed on foreign pension income, unless a treaty or the FIG regime helps. Some types of overseas pension income are excluded from the FIG regime, so a claim does not always cover them. Transfers into UK or overseas schemes have their own rules. Because pension treatment varies widely by country and scheme, we review the paperwork before you decide anything.

Probably, if you have foreign income or gains, UK income not fully taxed at source, or you want to claim the FIG regime, which can only be claimed through a Self Assessment return. You must register for Self Assessment by 5 October after the end of the tax year in which you first need to file. Missing the registration deadline is a common and avoidable penalty trap.

No. In any year you claim the FIG regime, you lose the personal allowance and the capital gains tax annual exempt amount, along with the blind person's allowance and some other reliefs. Whether to claim therefore depends on how much foreign income and gains you have. If they are small, not claiming may leave you better off, so it is a yearly calculation.

You can only claim relief for years in which you are UK resident, and the four-year window is counted from the first year of residence. If you leave and return, the years already used are not restored. You would need a fresh period of ten consecutive tax years of non-residence to qualify again. Short assignments may therefore use up part of an entitlement.

Inheritance tax on non-UK assets only applies once you are a long-term UK resident, meaning resident in 10 of the previous 20 tax years. A newcomer is therefore outside the net on overseas assets for a good while, but UK assets are always in scope. This is useful for planning, and we also look at a non-resident spouse, trusts and wills in more than one country.

Yes, but it needs structuring. Moving a company's tax residence to the UK can bring it into UK corporation tax on worldwide profits, and controlled foreign company rules can apply to overseas subsidiaries. As an owner, you also need to consider extraction, shareholdings and the effect on your own residence. We review your company structure alongside your personal move.

Ideally three to six months before the move, and before you sign a lease, buy a property, sell a significant asset or finalise an employment contract. Residence is decided for whole tax years, so a small shift in arrival date can alter your split year position and the value of your four-year relief. The first call is free.