Moving to Belgium - Tax Issues

scottp_2

Hi,

Been posting loads of topics relating to this, so apologies if I am boring you!

I will be moving to Belgium shortly, before April and hopefully working there for around a year (could wait until after April the following year if needs be) and should be earning a lot of money. I will be coming home most weekends or at least every other weekend. The money will pay tax in Belgium but will be remitted back to the UK. Obviously I will be putting the majority of this into various savings accounts whilst I am there. If I could do it, I would rather leave all my addresses at the banks to my mums address (current one) so that all my mail comes here. So I have a few questions.

Firstly, what do I go about tax on UK savings accounts, as all the accounts I have currently are taxed at basic rate (20%). Would I change this or just wait till I get back and reclaim it?

Secondly, having all the money sent back here will not create any more of a tax burden will it?

Are there any things I need to take into consideration or should know whilst out there in regards to taxation etc.

Thanks A lot!

Murdina

The first thing you need to be clear on is whether or not you are going to lose UK tax residency. As of 6/4/08, the rules for determining this are altering in that days of departure and arrival are to be counted as days in the UK. So if you travel to Belgium on a Monday and come back on Friday you are only going to have 3 non resident days in a week and are unlikely even if you do spend the entire 2008/9 tax year working in Belgium to have become non-resident. In that case, nothing changes about your savings.
If you are non resident, you can try and get your financial institution to pay you gross but from memory they are not obliged to do this.
Remitting the money is irrelevant so long as you are of English, or other UK, domicile. If you or your father were born overseas and you could have a different domicile, then the rules here are about to change big time and you would need to take professional advice.
Consideration is also needed of the relevant double taxation treaty. You can find it here http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/international/belgium-dtc.pdf though again the residence issue is critical before you can be sure how your income should be taxed. If you are really going to be earning a lot, would be worth taking professional advice all round in view of the impending changes.

scottp_2

Well it would be a Sunday Night to Thursday Night stay in Belgium, meaning I would be in the UK from Friday Night (After work during the day) and the the full day saturday and up until I have to Fly back Sunday night. As well, it would not be every weekend as that would cost a lot in flights and travel expenses. As far as I am aware I would not be here for more that 6 Months if the travelling days class as days in the UK.

Where coudl I get professional advice and how much would it cost roughly? The salary is probably going to be around £100,000 PA.

Thanks alot for the help so far!