# Keeping a home in the UK when emigrating to NZ



## pennybarn (Feb 27, 2011)

I was just wondering if anyone knew the tax implications on retaining a property in the UK but moving to New Zealand? We are selling our main home but have a small property that we rent out we are wondering if it's worth keeping it or selling this as well?? Does anyone know the tax implications of doing this? will I get taxed on the rent twice? Kind regards Fay.


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## topcat83 (Apr 16, 2009)

pennybarn said:


> I was just wondering if anyone knew the tax implications on retaining a property in the UK but moving to New Zealand? We are selling our main home but have a small property that we rent out we are wondering if it's worth keeping it or selling this as well?? Does anyone know the tax implications of doing this? will I get taxed on the rent twice? Kind regards Fay.


We have a rental property still in the UK, and this is based on what we've had to do. NZ has a reciprocal tax agreement with the UK - so we're not taxed twice. We applied for our UK income to be tax free, (you will need to fill in a UK tax form every year) then include it on our NZ tax return. We also debated about keeping it taxed in the UK, as there is a personal allowance there which does not happen over here, but decided it was easier if it was all handled in one place.


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## pennybarn (Feb 27, 2011)

topcat83 said:


> We have a rental property still in the UK, and this is based on what we've had to do. NZ has a reciprocal tax agreement with the UK - so we're not taxed twice. We applied for our UK income to be tax free, (you will need to fill in a UK tax form every year) then include it on our NZ tax return. We also debated about keeping it taxed in the UK, as there is a personal allowance there which does not happen over here, but decided it was easier if it was all handled in one place.


 Thanks topcat, that's answered that then, see and I would have trawled the internet for ages reading up on it  that's what I love about this site and the people on here..... Thank you very much for the info topcat :clap2:


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## escapedtonz (Apr 6, 2012)

Hi,
Yeah we still have a house back in the UK that we rent out. 
We applied to HMRC to receive this rental income tax free since we wouldn't be resident and had it granted no problem. Bit of a pain we have to apply for this every year but hey ho.

Holders of NZ Resident visas are entitled to receive income from overseas property free from NZ tax for a period of 5 years, however the IRD here won't know about it if you don't declare it.
We also keep that income in the UK so I would question whether I would have to declare it here as it doesn't contribute to my income here ?


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## pennybarn (Feb 27, 2011)

escapedtonz said:


> Hi,
> Yeah we still have a house back in the UK that we rent out.
> We applied to HMRC to receive this rental income tax free since we wouldn't be resident and had it granted no problem. Bit of a pain we have to apply for this every year but hey ho.
> 
> ...


So there are ways to be tax free both in the UK and NZ but not both? I'm just wondering now which way it would benefit us regarding the tax? Thanks so much for the info  kind regards Fay.


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## escapedtonz (Apr 6, 2012)

pennybarn said:


> So there are ways to be tax free both in the UK and NZ but not both? I'm just wondering now which way it would benefit us regarding the tax? Thanks so much for the info  kind regards Fay.


No chance of being tax free in NZ if you earn a wage. You need an IRD number to work and all earnings are taxed. There is no tax free allowance.
If you only earn rent from the UK tax free and declare this in NZ, do not earn any other income in NZ and are here on a Resident visa then yes you can be tax free in both countries but only 5 years then you must declare and pay tax in NZ on all income no matter where it is earned.

In the UK, if you only earn rent like we do then this can be tax free as it will generally be under the £7500 ish tax free allowance for an individual or double that for a couple, but to make sure we apply to keep the tax on the rent paid to us by an estate agent. It's just a simple form to fill in and send to HMRC.
Means we don't have to go thro the tax refund process at the end of every year in the UK to claim it back.


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## walshdon (May 2, 2012)

I still have a house in the uk that I rent. I have the money going into a uk bank and have asked about this and don't need to declare here. I buy big purchase sometime by my visa card from that uk account but don't need it to live on. It my be different if you had it coming over monthly but that way you would lose money with transferring and the exchange rate.


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