# Help! Tax implications for UK citizen owning property in Egypt



## sophiedahab (Apr 25, 2012)

Can anyone offer advice.

My husband and I are finally move to the UK with our young children. We own a couple of properties in Sinai we plan to run as holiday lets (if tourism allows it!) but have no idea what tax implications this will have on us in the UK.

I'm British and my husband Egyptian, property currently in his name but could easily be changed to mine. He is entering on a spouses settlement visa issued prior to 9 July changes, so is a probationary period of 2 years.

We don't want to get into trouble, but we are going to struggle financially while we get established in the UK so need to know what we are entitled to. We are trying to figure out how to get deposits for rental paid, whether to use my UK account directly, whether it will have different tax implications if its a UK bank account in my husbands name or whether we keep the payment solely to be collected in Egypt. We have no idea what the 'rules' are in the UK for owning property abroad and what tax we have to pay on money we make from renting it out.

Any advise will be greatly appreciated as internet searches are going around in circles! :ranger:

Many thanks


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## hurghadapat (Mar 26, 2010)

sophiedahab said:


> Can anyone offer advice.
> 
> My husband and I are finally move to the UK with our young children. We own a couple of properties in Sinai we plan to run as holiday lets (if tourism allows it!) but have no idea what tax implications this will have on us in the UK.
> 
> ...


TBH....i really think you need the advice of an accountant in the UK as trying to figure out the Inland Revenues directives on this is nigh on impossible....but for sure one thing you don't want to do is fall on the wrong side of the law if your husband is only on a probationary visa....will probably cost you for the advice but better safe than sorry.
Good Luck with your move.


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

If you are in the UK you pay tax on everything... including rentals abroad, it is called un earned income..however you can claim so much against it but of course you will need official receipts from Egypt showing your expenses. 

Do not try and cheat the tax man.. he is your worse nightmare, if you are not getting enough rental income then it will not be taxed and if you are earning enough for it to be taxed you will be like every other struggling family in the UK. 

As Pat said, an accountant is probably your best course of action


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## sophiedahab (Apr 25, 2012)

Thank you both. I'm not looking to cheat the tax man, I'm just totally clueless and nervous about it all. Returning to the UK feels like going back to the real world and there are so many things to think about. I guess we try and keep some of the earnings in Egypt only to pay all the costs/bills because getting acceptable receipts and so forth to claim against in the UK will be an absolute nightmare! Thanks again - as expected its not as easy as we thought.

Another question you may know offhand - can foreigners entering the UK bring some savings into the country (not that we have any at the moment) I just presumed it might be allowed to bring some savings in without tax implications when you move to the UK? Many thanks.


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

sophiedahab said:


> Thank you both. I'm not looking to cheat the tax man, I'm just totally clueless and nervous about it all. Returning to the UK feels like going back to the real world and there are so many things to think about. I guess we try and keep some of the earnings in Egypt only to pay all the costs/bills because getting acceptable receipts and so forth to claim against in the UK will be an absolute nightmare! Thanks again - as expected its not as easy as we thought.
> 
> Another question you may know offhand - can foreigners entering the UK bring some savings into the country (not that we have any at the moment) I just presumed it might be allowed to bring some savings in without tax implications when you move to the UK? Many thanks.




The minute you put money into the bank it is taxed at source unless you choose to opt out and do it through your tax returns... 

I am paid into my UK bank account but I am not a resident of the UK so I do not pay tax on my earnings other than taxed at source on the interest payable on my savings.. I could opt out of this but in all honesty I dont really have that much saved so the tax is easy to bear... I just use my debit card to get money from the account or when I am in the UK I bring sterling back and just change it... you might be able to do the same as me only using Egypt as your bank account


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