Possible £114k tax bill from property abroad?

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arambol
arambol Posts: 120 Forumite
First Anniversary Combo Breaker
I am a British citizen that has lived in Hong Kong since 1999. During my time in there, I invested in a property and sold up prior to repatriating back to the UK in May 2017.

I bought my property under an LLC I set up, where I was the only shareholder. The purchase was made in 2010 for £400,000, and sold in April 2017 for £1,000,000 (fortunate). FYI - the reason ownership through an LLC was because I was renting it for some time and this made sense from a logistics standpoint and personal tax standpoint in HK - all perfectly above board. Also note that in Hong Kong there is no capital gains tax, or dividends tax. In the UK it is 20% for both.

My accountant in Hong Kong declared an interim dividend in April 2017 when the property was sold for the full amount. The issue is, because the money was not physically transferred into my personal account from the LLC's business account, I am afraid that I may be liable for UK tax now that I am a UK resident as of May 2017. The money is still in HSBC in Hong Kong but once I transfer it to HSBC in the UK I believe I will be liable.

I am beginning my investigations but any advice here would be much appreciated.

Thank you in advance!!!

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  • agrinnall
    agrinnall Posts: 23,344 Forumite
    First Post Combo Breaker
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    Given the sums involved it seems a no-brainer to me that you should take professional advice on this.
  • arambol
    arambol Posts: 120 Forumite
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker
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    I agree and I am arranging professional advice but losing sleep until I can get to see an accountant.....so was hoping for some insight.
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