# UK income tax



## London_Expat (Jun 14, 2014)

Hi All

Does anyone know whether it is possible to claim back UK income tax if you leave the UK during a tax year? 

We are due to move to Dubai in August and I've heard that as we will become "non-UK residents" we will be able to claim back UK income tax paid from the beginning of the current tax year (ie. 1 April 2014).

Any help gratefully received!

Thanks.


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## twowheelsgood (Feb 21, 2013)

maybe but, lots of paperwork for you to do. Its certainly possible albeit a hassle and you may not get the money straight away as you may be expected to stay out for at last the following tax year to check you're not trying to reclaim for an extended holiday  You may have to accept that you willl not get paid tax back, but will stop paying any more. If you really were employed for over 90 days, you will be lucky to cahieve this as the rules apply in line with tax years, not elapsed years.

P85 form is a good starter for 10.

you will need to remind them that;

you rent a property here - and prove it
You are employed on a local contract - ideally open ended
Get paid in local currency to a local bank - prove it
Show them you have a local bank account
keep a detailed account of every time you step foot in the Uk - even for 1 minute as that day is counted towards your non-resident status. You also need to be able to say exactly what you did on those days as there are overall limits and a lower limit on working days. 

HMRC are a PITA and will probably say no to start with, but persist with them.


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## twowheelsgood (Feb 21, 2013)

Edit : Sorry, I missed the subtlety. You have very little chance of claiming back taxes during a period when you are resident in the UK. Because you were actually resident.

The person who advised you is probably confused in that the 'old' rules were that if you were not absent for the entire tax year, you paid as if you were resident for the entire year, pretty much regardless of excuses.

The newer rules may allow you non-resident status from the point you do a P85 and declare you have left the country and are in effect, applying to be non-resident. So under new rules, you could avoid taxes from August onwards - but before then - not a chance.


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## xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxStewartC (Mar 3, 2012)

you need to talk to a UK-based tax accountant. far too complicated for a forum discussion as it will depend on the individual circumstances of you and your partner


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## Alfred1 (Jan 4, 2014)

You'll get back a percentage based on your personal allowance.

As I understand it your personal allowance is divided up across the year, so if (to make it simple) your personal allowance is £6000 a year you will be allowed to earn up to £500 a month before you start to pay tax.
If at month 3 you leave and you haven't earned your allowance you will get whatever you have paid back.

I left the UK in 2003, just upped and went. When I came back in 2011 and started to pay tax via PAYE I popped up on the radar again and out of the blue got a tax rebate.

So based on how much you've paid and your personal allowance you will probably get some tax back because they calculate it over the full 12 months and you weren't there that long.

Hope that makes sense, I'm terrible at explaining.


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## xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxStewartC (Mar 3, 2012)

above post totally wrong. get professional advice. it will save you thousands. things have changed since 2003!


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## Alfred1 (Jan 4, 2014)

StewartC said:


> above post totally wrong. get professional advice. it will save you thousands. things have changed since 2003!



I got a rebate in 2011 when I came back to the UK, so I phoned the tax office and thats what they told me, i.e. because I left the UK in August 2003 only a few months into a tax year and therefore got a refund based on my personal allowance.

I have nothing invested in this arguement so if that was wrong advice then I'm not inclined to defend it, although in the absence of any facts or actual advice in your post I think I'll stick with what HMRC told me.

Still, getting professional advice would be sensible, I'm only going on what some numpty at HMRC told me over 3 yrs ago.


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## Jumeirah Jim (Jan 24, 2011)

It is easy to do yourself unless you have complicated business. 

I did it years ago and got a tidy tax back payment surprisingly quickly.


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## xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxStewartC (Mar 3, 2012)

things have changed drastically. i never understand why people won't fork out a few quid for proper advice. most accountants will give you a free hour, in any case.


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## Alfred1 (Jan 4, 2014)

StewartC said:


> things have changed drastically.


I agree with the second part of your statement but what does that ^ mean?

Because I've been working on and off as an expat for around 15yrs and I haven't noticed any significant difference other than some wording in HMRC's documents so that (in laymans terms) they have more scope to chase people taking liberties.

For the avarage bloke in the street its all the same, satisfy the conditions and your liability for income tax becomes zero. 

I think changes are taking place but for the moment it appears to be via the back door. The wording in the conditions basically means that if they want to come after you and you have any interests, property or any type of speculation in the UK then they'll get you, but I don't think they're interested in people like us, they're after people exploiting the system.

I'm happy to be shown that I'm wrong but I keep hearing people saying things like "ahh but its all changed now" and then when I ask them to tell me how they can't tell me.


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## Sevenoaks1 (Mar 22, 2012)

London_Expat said:


> Hi All Does anyone know whether it is possible to claim back UK income tax if you leave the UK during a tax year? We are due to move to Dubai in August and I've heard that as we will become "non-UK residents" we will be able to claim back UK income tax paid from the beginning of the current tax year (ie. 1 April 2014). Any help gratefully received! Thanks.


Hi, we moved from London in August 2012 and when my husband filled out his tax form for that tax year we received a hefty cheque from over paid income tax from April 2012 until August 2012 when he moved out to Dubai. We received the payment in feb this year from HRMC. 
Maybe it has changed since feb this year, but that is what happened to us. We had an accountant in the UK help do our tax return.


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## vantage (May 10, 2012)

as above.

came in late June 2012, and got a rebate from 2012/2013 tax return
Used an Accountant in UK, as i still have UK earnings.


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## Alfred1 (Jan 4, 2014)

Sevenoaks1 said:


> Hi, we moved from London in August 2012 and when my husband filled out his tax form for that tax year we received a hefty cheque from over paid income tax from April 2012 until August 2012 when he moved out to Dubai. We received the payment in feb this year from HRMC.
> Maybe it has changed since feb this year, but that is what happened to us. We had an accountant in the UK help do our tax return.


^ exactly what happened to me, I got a refund for tax from April to August.
Although mine didn't come back to me for 8yrs because I dropped off HMRC's radar completely when I left and never applied for it, I only received it when I went back to the UK and appeared back on the radar as a PAYE employee.

As I said HMRC explained it to me with regard to personal allowances, etc
But the advice to get a proper tax expert is probably the most sensible thing to do.

FWIW when I left this time I did the same again, I just left, didn't notify HMRC.
Thats probably not a wise move but friends that did notify HMRC had a headache trying to satisfy them that they met the requirements. 
Last time I left the UK for all those years I just left and then reappeared, no headache, no hassle.


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## vantage (May 10, 2012)

When i left in 2012, i filled in the P85 form (had it given the once-over by an Accountant) and that was that.
I have not had to prove anything thereafter, other than to correctly complete the annual Self-Assessment.


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## blazeaway (Sep 28, 2011)

London_Expat said:


> Hi All Does anyone know whether it is possible to claim back UK income tax if you leave the UK during a tax year? We are due to move to Dubai in August and I've heard that as we will become "non-UK residents" we will be able to claim back UK income tax paid from the beginning of the current tax year (ie. 1 April 2014). Any help gratefully received! Thanks.


Yes I got a hefty 4 figure cheque from HMRC, used a tax adviser. Your tax is averaged through the year so if you leave part way through the year then because of you personal allowances you will have overpaid tax (normally but depends on tax code).


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## nikkisizer (Aug 20, 2011)

London_Expat said:


> Does anyone know whether it is possible to claim back UK income tax if you leave the UK during a tax year?
> 
> We are due to move to Dubai in August and I've heard that as we will become "non-UK residents" we will be able to claim back UK income tax paid from the beginning of the current tax year (ie. 1 April 2014)


Hi London_Expat,

I am assuming that you are both British citizens so if so you will still be entitled to the full annual personal allowance even though you will be leaving the UK during the tax year.

Due to this it is very likely that a tax refund will be due to you once the tax calculation is performed.

You should only submit form P85 to HMRC if you are not required to submit a self assessment tax return.


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## blazeaway (Sep 28, 2011)

nikkisizer said:


> Hi London_Expat, I am assuming that you are both British citizens so if so you will still be entitled to the full annual personal allowance even though you will be leaving the UK during the tax year. Due to this it is very likely that a tax refund will be due to you once the tax calculation is performed. You should only submit form P85 to HMRC if you are not required to submit a self assessment tax return.


I moved to Dubai in (a) September and my tax rebate was an extremely healthy amount!


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