Investing Abroad, earning on my investments but living in the UK

Mitchell_Leary

property.advert wrote: »

Unless you are talking about serious amounts of money, then remember that the ATM network is a great way to move funds. You can easily withdraw money, say from an offshore account based in Singapore with Citibank, anywhere in the world and no-one would ever bat an eyelid. Obviously not for tens of thousands a month but for the odd £500 a time withdrawal, it is by far the easiest.

Thanks for the reply property.advert. When I'm travelling I use ATMs as my primary method of accessing my money. Even though it is a very expensive method, it's just easier for me(me being lazy). I'm more interested now in knowing the ramifications of moving alot more money back to England but it seems a bit of a mine-field. I might do just as well to leave my money there and only pay tax on it once.

Thanks again

Mitchell_Leary

Aegis wrote: »

It's also pretty much the most expensive way to do it. Typically you'll get a rubbish exchange rate and will also be charged a fee by the card provider, and possibly by the ATM owner as well.

Plus there's no reason to use this method unless you're actually trying to evade tax. It's easier to simply make an online payment from your offshore account to an onshore one. Takes about 2 minutes and doesn't require you to leave the house, and it's a lot more secure.

Are there any limits to the amount of money I can transfer from my offshore account to my onshore in the UK so long as I declare it as a capital gain at the end of the tax year?

Thanks

Mitchell_Leary

Jonbvn wrote: »

OP,

This sounds awfully like something possibly illegal or perhaps a scam??

Be very careful.

No, it's not dodgy or a scam. I've done extensive research on it myself over the last few years and now I am in a position to move out there for some time to build and sell properties that are selling like hot-cakes at the moment.
It's just a great opportunity that I identified and tested and I'm very excited about getting stuck into.
Very often I think people wait for other people to come along and "offer" them a good investment which nearly always is either a scam or not as productive as advertised. It's always better to identify new opportunities yourself and that's what I've done.

Thanks

property.advert

Aegis wrote: »

It's also pretty much the most expensive way to do it. Typically you'll get a rubbish exchange rate and will also be charged a fee by the card provider, and possibly by the ATM owner as well.

Plus there's no reason to use this method unless you're actually trying to evade tax. It's easier to simply make an online payment from your offshore account to an onshore one. Takes about 2 minutes and doesn't require you to leave the house, and it's a lot more secure.

I think that if you do research, you'll find a number, though declining, number of way to avoid being a "typical" overseas ATM user incurring large transaction charges.

It does bypass the tax system, you are right and in that way, it could well be beneficial. Such does not necessarily need to be tax avoidance, merely an easy and cheap way of bypassing the myriad of paperwork in trying to get tax authorities in two or more countries to agree on what is and is not allowable expenditure against tax in their respective regimes.

As for security, I'll warrant that unless you are a complete muppet, the ATM network is almost totally secure. And anonymous to a large degree.

Jonbvn

Mitchell_Leary wrote: »

I might do just as well to leave my money there and only pay tax on it once.

Please be advised that would count as evasion and is illegal. Provided you are a UK resident for tax purposes, you have to declare your worldwide income. With doube taxation treaties etc., this is a complex area - you should consider professional advice if the sums are large.

Perhaps you should consider becoming non-resident for tax?

Please also bear in mind that the new UK gov't will increase CGT, which may also effect you.

Cook_County

You appear to be talking about trading profits which would be entirely taxable in the UK at rates of up to 50% plus Class 4 NIC whether or not remitted to the UK.

You would doubtless also be taxable in the country where you are developing.

Your questions are in essence spurious because the entire profit is taxable as trading profit.

Mitchell_Leary

Thanks again to all. Keep your thoughts and knowledge coming. This is a very interesting, informative and helpful debate.