By Robert Harris, Forth Capital
If you are a UK expatriate there is every likelihood that you will be subject to UK tax at some point in the future.
You may have assets such as liquid investments in the UK, in which case you may be subject to tax on income generated and tax on capital gains. Most people are aware of this already, but what about other taxes?
In Britain, you are brought up to be believe that your home is your castle and all Brits want to buy property – it is part of our DNA. Over the years, for most people their property has become their main pension plan. The equity in their property will fund the cost of retirement as well as care homes in later life. Whilst second properties have been subject to capital gains tax, it has now been confirmed that capital gains tax will now apply to primary residences.
How much is your property worth? Stamp duty will be payable on the sale of property – is the property in your name or is it held through a company? Are you aware of the amount of stamp duty payable on your property?
There is also a lot of rhetoric concerning Mansion Tax – a mansion being defined as property worth more than £ 1m. Watch this space!
Now, let’s look at pensions. Much has been said and written about George Osborne’s reform of UK pensions at the recent budget. From an expats perspective (whether British or non British with a UK pension from working there), the pension is still subject to UK tax rules. That means tax on income and death.
Finally, the tax people think about least but is the most punitive – Inheritance Tax. You may have been outside the UK many years and have no assets in the UK, yet your worldwide estate WILL be subject to UK IHT because you are deemed UK domicile (even though you are not resident in the UK).
Given the different types of taxes in the UK and their scope, it is important that anyone with assets in the UK or anyone deemed UK domiciled take careful advice.
On May 14th, we will host a seminar in Geneva covering these matters in detail. ‘Tax: The Hidden Dangers’ will be hosted by Forth Capital and we’ll be joined by David Denton, a highly regarded and respected authority on technical tax matters who we are flying over from London specifically to tackle the grey areas as only he can. Click here for more information.
We’d be delighted to have you all join us, to do so simply confirm your details to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Author's bio
Robert Harris has over 25 years experience working for some of the major financial institutions in the City of London, including 12 years at Citibank where he was a Senior Banker. During his time at Citibank, Robert was responsible for global relationships with important financial institutions and instigated a number of landmark deals.
Robert was a founding partner of Forth Capital and has helped the company become the leading expat financial advisory company in Switzerland.
A regular presenter of the World Business Report on the WRS radio station, Robert has been quoted in the Financial Times and numerous magazine articles.
