Banking/tax position if travelling/living abroad

kuepper

I'm thinking of having an oldie 'gap year' travelling abroad and wondered what the position is re banking and tax if say you stay somewhere for 3/6 mths and move on and stay somewhere else for 3/6 mths. Can you just leave things as they are and get money out of ATMs in the country from your UK a/cs or do you have to notify tax ppl you're out of the country and pay tax in the country you're temporarily in etc?? Do you have to tell pension service if you're temporarily out of the country, I presume there must be some cut off point between when something is a holiday and when it's something else.

agrinnall

For a year say nothing to anyone. Your pension will continue to be paid and taxed in the UK, and as long as you don't have earnings in the countries that you visit there's nothing to tell them about.

benjus

Agree with agrinnall - but if you don't already have one you should consider opening an account that's optimal for use abroad if you're going to use ATMs. Metro Bank current account is great within Europe, not so good elsewhere. The Halifax Clarity credit card is great worldwide, just remember to pay off cash withdrawals asap from your current account. Some Norwich and Peterborough BS current accounts are great worldwide, but check the T&C.

sandsy

If you don't stay anywhere for more than 183 days, you won't be considered resident there. But you'll continue to be 'ordinarily resident' in the UK.

kuepper

sandsy wrote: »

If you don't stay anywhere for more than 183 days, you won't be considered resident there. But you'll continue to be 'ordinarily resident' in the UK.

that sounds precise! Is that Europe or worldwide? I'd be interested to know what's the source of the 183? So if I stayed in 3 countries for 180 days each I could just use my uk cards without worrying about anything?

fifeken

You're going on holiday, not moving out of the UK, and your tax position remains unchanged. You would need to be away for a full financial year to not be taxed as usual, plus there's some more provisos.

Look up "Statutory Residence Test" for the full rules.

ManAtHome

kuepper wrote: »

I'd be interested to know what's the source of the 183?

Just over 1/2 a year, maybe it's 184 during leap years...

kuepper

fifeken wrote: »

You're going on holiday, not moving out of the UK, and your tax position remains unchanged. You would need to be away for a full financial year to not be taxed as usual, plus there's some more provisos.

Look up "Statutory Residence Test" for the full rules.

I could well be away more than a full tax year that's why I asked the question, I looked up Statutory Residence Test - 105 page govt document of what to me is incomprehensible gobbledegook, rules and regulations ....

I'd rather just keep my banking in uk and pay uk tax but reading that document suggests I wouldn't be able to????

knightstyle

sandsy is right and you will have to continue to pay tax in the UK even if you are away for a year or more.
The only way to stop paying UK tax is to become a tax payer in another country, we had this in a similar situation a few years ago.
Enjoy your trips, we did! Remember life is for memories, not regrets.

agrinnall

HMRC have a test for UK residence for tax purposes on their website, I haven't tried it but I doubt if it's as difficult as a 105 page document.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/international/residence.htm#1

fifeken

kuepper wrote: »

I could well be away more than a full tax year that's why I asked the question . . .

But will it be a full financial year? If not, my previous reply stands.