Relocation abroad

palasmy

We are preparing for our move to Muscat in August. I have few queries which I really would appreciate if people with similar experiences can share their views.

UK Tax
As we will be moving there in August, I presume we will be liable for income tax here for the period we lived here. But, read somewhere that potentially we could be paying for the remainder of the year as well (our absence period), is this true? If so is there anyway we could claim back should we stay abroad for a longer period? People with some experience, please advice.

UK wrap up
As a standard procedure, I guess we will have to suspend most of our local services here although some would have to be terminated. Are there any constraints with any particular utility services, for instance, I have spoken to AA breakdown cover and they have suggested to suspend my account rather than terminating it as this would allow me to preserve my silver membership benefits otherwise when I return I’d have to start from scratch. So, I guess water, electricity and gas are standard as long as all dues are paid they can be closed. Things like internet, mobile phones are little tricky as they are on contracts and may have implications I presume.


In Muscat
Accomodation
We have the option of either moving into one of our company villas situated opposite to Hyatt hotel in a compound or to find our own, the allowance for this is between 1000 & 1100 OMR. Naturally, if we can find a place in MQB that will be of reasonable size ( 2 bedrooms) for less than our allowance, then maybe we can save some money there. However, is renting a place on our own a daunting process, especially for first timers like us? Can someone tell us what is involved in renting a place in muscat?

Schooling
Our preference is to send our 6 year old either to BSM or ABA and as a plan B we may prefer TASIM as a last resort. We are initially considering a 3 year contract, although this is renewable we may potentially return at the end of this period as we want our 6 year old to here for her further studies, particularly with an aim of her going into a grammar school here. So, has anyone been in this situation, how easy was it for your child’s transition into local UK schools after the return?

Logistics
Our company will be providing a storage space here in UK for our stuff so that we can use them when we return and also removal services to move our things to Muscat. During our recent trip to Muscat we noticed that the general cost of living in Muscat is in par with UK and finding cheaper things seems a challenge. So we wondered, whether or not it would be useful to get some interior stuff for our accommodation from UK, as we know where to get what cheaper here and also moving big stuff shouldn’t be a hasstle as this is taken care of by the company. Of course this would mean that we need to be careful with measurements, ideally fix our accommodation before we buy anything. Any thoughts on this is much appreciated.


Cheers
P