Transferring savings from Switzerland to the UK

nanodgb

Hi,

After three years working in Switzerland (I'm Spanish by the way), I'll be moving to the UK soon. I'd like to open an account and transfer all my savings there, to then re-distribute the money between a current account, a savings account and a NISA.

My question is, can I just open an current account and transfer my savings there? Will I have to declare/pay taxes on this? Also, I'm thinking of using TransferWise to transfer the money... Do you see any problems coming from the fact that TransferWise would be the "man-in-the-middle" in that operation?

Cheers,

Daniel

Your_Hero

You may have an issue opening your first bank account as you need to have been a UK resident for some time (probably 12 months) and have some proof of address etc. Although there may be some very basic accounts that are possible. You definitely won't be able to open it while you are in Switzerland.

Depends how much you earn when you are in the UK to see if you need to declare for taxes (if higher rate tax payer, yes).


No experience with TransferWise so I wouldn't know.

agrinnall

There is no tax on moving money into the UK, either you owe UK tax on your Swiss earnings (unlikely I would have thought) or you don't, transferring the money doesn't affect that.

I'm sure there will be no problem using TransferWise, although you could take a look at some of the alternatives to check out the rates.

Opening the first UK account will be slightly tricky, especially if you try to do it before you are resident in the UK and on the electoral roll. If you currently bank in Switzerland with a bank that has a presence in the UK then you might be able to open an account through them, or if not you could consider opening a Swiss account with someone like HSBC and then opening a GBP account with them.

Other people who have done it already may have better solutions to offer, but it's unlikely to be insurmountably difficult.

Oh, and you won't be able to open a NISA until you are a UK resident and have a UK National Insurance number (if you don't have one already).

nanodgb

Thanks for your quick replies! I will have a permanent address and will declare myself as a resident before opening an account, so I guess that shouldn't be a problem.

I knew it would be strange that I had to declare anything because in the end it's my money we're talking about, but thanks anyway for the info!

xylophone

it's my money we're talking about,

Try telling that to HMRC...:rotfl: