UK community & property tax responsibilities for expats living in CH?

[souler]

Moved to Switzerland last October from England. How does the situation lie about letting your own country know that you have moved. Do you have to notify anyone e,g tax, banks doctors or is it your own decision to do so. I still have property in England which my son lives in, was wondering about my communtity tax if I declared my self not there would I basically be opening a lot of problems for myself or does it not matter.

You will need to tell the tax office and fill in a tax form each year and declare any UK income.

Re council tax, yes tell them you are not there otherwise you have to pay council tax. Especially worth doing if your son is <18 or a student, even if he's not he'll still get a 25% single person discount.

Doctors I'd not bother, for no other reason than you will still be registered if you ever go back to the UK.

Dentist I'd definitely not bother changing as it's much cheaper to get a return airfare to the UK for dental work than it is to pay for it in Swiss.

Banks, as long as you have a uk address that you can use for mail why close the accounts?

You will need to get a Swiss driving licence within 12 months.

[a.j.b]

	Quote:	souler
	Moved to Switzerland last October from England. How does the situation lie about letting your own country know that you have moved. Do you have to notify anyone e,g tax, banks doctors or is it your own decision to do so. I still have property in England which my son lives in, was wondering about my communtity tax if I declared my self not there would I basically be opening a lot of problems for myself or does it not matter.

Presuming you were a UK resident before you came to Switzerland than it is your responsibility to keep the HMRC informed about your residency / domicle.

For myself it was a case of filing out the appropriate form on the HMRC website informing that I no longer living in the UK and considered myself to not have any ties (house, immediate family, social clubs that you are member of etc etc). You can phone them up using their contact details and ask to speak to an advisor (they are never available! and you can't "rely" on their information!).

I can see it may be more complex for yourself as you have a house and a son in England still - both considered to be "strong ties" to the UK. It would probably be best to seek professional tax advice to ensure that you don't end up with a big tax bill that you weren't expecting a few years, it may not be possible for you to avoid UK taxes in your current situation.

If you read other threads on this subject you will see that it is not that easy to leave the UK for tax purposes and it is a rather complex matter when you still have ties in the UK such as a house and immediate family. Even in my situation which I feel is more clear cut I am in the process of seeking professional advise to ensure that in a few years I don't have a large tax bill I wasn't expecting.

My use of terms such as domicle and resident may not be factually correct above, it is not a subject I know a lot about - I think most people who would respond to this thread would advise seeking professional advice. I have concentrated on the tax element on my answer as if you haven't informed other people such as banks and doctors, then you haven't really even moved from the UK in most peoples eyes (particularly the tax man)?. This is all your own decision (and responsibilty) but affects your tax status, which from a UK perspective is all about where the "center of your life is".

Did I mention seeking professional advice in my answer?.......

Searching the forum brings up a few threads that should cover your questions:

Tax implications on property in UK

Paying tax on property owned in UK?

Very confused about tax on UK property

Income from renting a house in the home country

Tax back for mortgage payments in the UK

Taxed on rental income for house in UK

Can anyone help with a UK tax question?

[GoonerRob]

Can anyone advise where on the swiss tax forms you fill in your UK property, i don't rent mine out as i came here as a contractor...

Thanks in advance

Rob

[PlantHead]

Read here,
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/cnr/nr_landlords.htm#2

Applications by non-resident landlords for approval to receive rent with no tax deducted.

It is all very complicated.
In Switzerland/ UK you don't pay tax twice, http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/si/double.htm
So you shouldn't be taxed on your UK rental income.

[GoonerRob]

I don't rent my UK property out....

Just have to fill in details about it on 2010 tax return...just not sure where to fill in details... ??

[fatmanfilms]

	Quote:	souler
	Moved to Switzerland last October from England. How does the situation lie about letting your own country know that you have moved. Do you have to notify anyone e,g tax, banks doctors or is it your own decision to do so. I still have property in England which my son lives in, was wondering about my communtity tax if I declared my self not there would I basically be opening a lot of problems for myself or does it not matter.

Unless you 'leave' the UK permanently for a settled purpose you will still be liable to may income tax on your world wide income.

Having a property permanently available to you, having family in the UK, still being registered with a Dr would indicate to the revenue that you have not 'left' but just away from the UK.

UK tax is self assessment, just because they don't ask you today for the money does not mean they wont come back in 5 years with penalties & interest.

The rules for 'leaving' may change after the budget.