I'm moving to CH soon, can anyone tell me what I need to do (apart from call them and wait for hours) as far as the UK tax authorities are concerned?

Thanks in advance.

There is a form you can fill in to tell them you are leaving the UK. When I spoke to them they weren't even fussed about that

was this an IR85?

See this: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/incometax/tax-leave-uk.htm

IR85 tells your bank you are no longer subject to UK income tax. But your interest income may be reported to the Swiss authorities. As a UK Sterling account is subject to IHT you may want to move it to the Channel Islands.

You can report your departure online: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/individuals/change-of-circs.htm

To clarify, the form you need to fill in to get interest tax-free from a UK bank account is R105, not IR85 (as above) or R85 (which would apply if you live in the UK but are not paying tax).

When you leave, you fill in a P85 form, then wait for a long time for an answer.

If he is British not sure it matters where the account is, he'll be subject to IHT regardless.

Not quite so. You escape the IHT net if you can demonstrate that your "deemed domicile" has shifted outside of the UK. Demonstrating that is, of course, a slightly different matter. The general rule of thumb is that you have to have been out of the UK for 3 of the last 20 years (i.e. within 3 years of leaving you are pretty much out of the UK tax net - we stopped being sent UK tax returns after 3 years) and that the focus of your life is outside the UK - no assets or ties in the UK etc. The Inland Revenue are rather crafty, however - one oft-cited case was a man who had been out of the UK for 25 years, had naturalised in another country and had no ties to the UK. However, the IR found a letter he had sent to a friend way back saying he would always regard the UK as his home and used that to prove deemed domicile in the UK and snaffled 40% of his estate

By IHT, I think he meant Income Tax, not Inheritance Tax.

In which case, you cease paying UK income tax once you cease to be tax resident in the UK which is on day 184 in a 12-month period, and if you are out of the UK over an entire tax year (6 April to 5 April)

I think this thread is already fraught with urban myths, misleading, misguided, uncited and downright fiscally dangerous information.

The relevant rules and regulations are contained within HMRC6.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/cnr/hmrc6.pdf

This replaced IR20 (previous legislation) within the last couple of years.

A quick read of the document will leave you in no doubt that the application of taxation is now completely subjective.

Taking "professional advice" (as HMRC advise) is also a waste of money. Tax "professionals" do not provide binding rulings. HMRC do that. And if HMRC want to see things differently from your tax advisor, there's only going to be one loser. And it's not the advisor.

Here's my 2-penneth;
(1) IF (you want to leave the UK to save on tax, whether income, inheritance, capital gain, national insurance etc) AND (you suspect that you might go back at some point in the future) THEN (forget it). When you do return, you'll be bent over a barrel.

(2) If you want to leave the UK for a "higher quality of life" or "standard of living", then you probably have the right motivation - and a choice of 100+ countries in which to realise this dream. However, wherever you go, you will need to integrate with, and embrace, the local language and culture. This does not mean that you'll, in return, be reciprocally accepted and welcome by the indigenous peoples - but it is a start.


/GD

Thanks for the link - I think my point about "deemed domicile" was precisely that the interpretation of the rules is dependent on HMRC and is completely subjective. Basically they will do their damndest to deem you domiciled in the UK because they want your taxes

Completely agree, having read much of what gets posted on forums, trusting 99% of what you read would be a big mistake.

To illustrate my point, the term deemed domicile applies to non-UK domiciled individuals, not those who are seeking to lose their current domicile status. Thus if the OP wanted to get out of IHT he would need to do a lot more than simply move a bank account offshore.

Agreed...


Wrong. Inland Revenue Guidance Notes are not legislation. Read the first sentence again:

This guidance outlines our (HMRC) view and interpretation of legislation
and case law. The material is guidance only. It has no legal force, nor does it seek to set out regulation

Wrong. The Inland Revenue doesn't make or interpret tax laws. Parliament makes the rules and the courts interpret them. Application of the laws may be the domain of the Inland Revenue but it's not subject to their whims. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Wrong. See above. HMRC interpretation of rules in individual cases is often successfully challenged in the courts on appeal.

Just to be clear, deemed domicile is very relevant to non UK resident, UK nationals seeking to lose their UK domicile. You can lose your UK domicile but still be deemed domiciled for tax purposes for a period of time.

Correct.

Guys....the road to losing your UK domicile for Inheritance tax purposes is well trodden and the rules haven't changed. It's simple ...if you do the right things... and avoid doing the wrong things. It has everything to do with cutting all links to the UK ...permanently...but it has nothing to do with learning local languages or embracing local cultures. This stuff has been covered in previous threads so no need to go into detail here.