ISA when working for the UN

Teti

Hello, I started in 2023 a new job working for the UN in another country, my salary there is exempt from taxation. I am still though working part-time for a UK employer and have a house in the UK and as such am considered UK tax resident. I can't seem to find clear information regarding whether I could open an ISA account in the UK. I assume that the tax authorities in the other country may be able to claim I should declare this and pay tax given that the remuneration through my UK employer is taxable. However, I haven't been able to confirm this. If anyone has advice on this, I would be grateful. Thank you! 

subjecttocontract

As the UK is a member of the UN surely you are a crown employee. I thought crown employees can open isas.

retiredbanker1

The United Nations is not part of the crown.

subjecttocontract

I guess it depends on whether you have been appointed to your job by the Gov'. I suspect there is a difference to you being the UK representitive to the UN in a senior position or an average Joe or Josie doing the donkey work.

Teti

Thank you, I have diplomatic status as I am a senior official but do not represent the UK. I think it would be fine if I was just a UN official but the fact that I now work in the UK as well may mean that I am subject to Swiss tax rules for the UK income and this may be problematic for a UK ISA. 

xylophone

https://www.gov.uk/individual-savings-accounts

Who can open an ISA

You must be 18 or over to open an ISA. If you’re opening a Lifetime ISA you must also be under 40. 

If you were born between 6 April 2006 and 5 April 2008, you can open one cash ISA before you turn 18.

You must also be either:

• resident in the UK
• a member of the armed forces or a Crown servant (for example diplomatic or overseas Civil Service) or their spouse or civil partner if you do not live in the UK

It depends on the definition of "resident".....?

https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/united-kingdom/individual/residence

Jester60

Hello Teti
Wondering if you found out more?

As for tax residency more generally. I am an ex-UK civil servant recruited from UK to an EU Agency. According to Immunities and Privileges legislation (based on Vienna convention) my tax domicile remains UK. Perhaps it is similar for you. I have income in UK and declare it for tax in UK. I also have foreign savings interest income (I am a foreign tax resident and it is taxed at source) which I will declare in UK as part of all world wide income. If UK tax is paid on that, the foreign tax authority informed me I can claim it back off them in accordance with the relevant Double taxation agreement. 

PRAISETHESUN

Irrespective of the issue if you're allowed to open and contribute to ISA when residing abroad, my experience with double taxation is that you declare your income to both countries and then the DTA sorts out who gets what. Usually it ends up that you pay whichever is the highest rate of tax on the particular stream of income. For example, the UK taxes my savings interest at 20% and Australia taxes it at 10%, so I end up paying 20% on my Australian savings even though I should only need to pay 10% because the UK has a higher rate

With ISAs it's a bit tricky since the tax-free wrapper isn't usually recognised outside the UK. Therefore in my example above, the UK taxes ISA savings at 0% but Australia still wants their 10%. So I end up having to pay tax anyway. The rules obviously vary from country to country, but generally speaking ISA savings aren't always as lucrative when foreign tax is involved.