As travel restrictions in England are scheduled to be relaxed, many people’s emigration plans can be restarted. For most of those moving abroad, the Coronoavirus has meant pressing pause on their plans with closed borders, non essential travel restrictions and quarantine regulations.
Now things are slowly starting to get moving again, don’t forget to check out your eligibility for your UK tax rebate before you go. You can apply once you’ve moved, but make sure you take all the paperwork with you.
Why do people leave Britain?
Both native Britons and non-native residents choose to leave the UK for a whole host of reasons, including:
- Work: new job opportunities, or a requirement form current employers, leading to promotion and increased salary.
- Retirement: deciding on a sunnier, slower paced alternative
- Family: this global health scare has prompted many people to rethink where they live and some decide that relocating near family is preferable. This is particularly true for those who have come to the UK from a different country, leaving family and friends behind.
- Better lifestyle: cheaper cost of living, drier weather and different pace of life more conducive to all-round wellbeing are expected
- Excitement: best example is the gap year after school and before university. Young people wanting to strike out on an independent adventure and participate in different cultures.
Does the reason for leaving affect eligibility for a UK tax refund?
No, the reason you are leaving the UK is not part of the UK tax refund process. The main eligibility criteria are that you have lived, worked and paid income tax in the UK. The different tax refunds and allowances have additional eligibility and evidence requirements. You have to marry your individual situation with the regulations that apply to your particular tax and employment position.
Most common reasons for receiving a Leaving the UK tax refund
These are the most common reasons our clients receive their tax refunds when they leave Britain. It is not an exhaustive list, but it’s a good place to start thinking about your own situation.
- You leave in the middle of a tax year (runs April 5th to April 6th) and so haven’t used up your whole tax free Personal Allowance.
- You are going to work in another country as an employee, but are still a UK taxpayer.
- You will have non resident for tax purposes status when you leave.
- You have taxable pension income in Britain.
- You are a UK non resident landlord of property here.
- Work expenses reliefs and allowances that you haven’t claimed for. There are a whole host of these tax reliefs and allowances that are available to employed and self employed taxpayers. Lots of people never claim what is owed to them. They include things like membership fees to Trade Unions and professional bodies, mileage and tools you buy for work use.
HMRC handles each application for a tax refund on a case by case basis, so there is no generalised figure or application format. That’s why we only put together claims that are personalised to each individual client. No two are the same, so that we achieve maximum tax efficiency.
What else do I need to know about claiming a UK tax refund when I emigrate?
It is very important to note that these tax refunds are never automatically returned by HMRC. You must follow the official application process, or the money is used by the Treasury.
The good news is that these can be backdated for four tax years. And the even better news is that there is no maximum amount you can reclaim.
What paperwork do I need to claim UK tax back?
You can make your claim once you’ve moved to your new home country. But you do need to take all the necessary paperwork with you.
You need your National Insurance Number, that’s on most correspondence with your employer or HMRC. A claim in some cases can still be made if you don’t have a national insurance number.
If you are leaving employment here, you’ll get a P45 from your employer, which is very useful for your claim.
And a P85 contains several pieces of crucial information for your tax refund application. A P85 shows your residency status, the date you left the UK and your new employment situation. A self assessment tax return also has the same information, so if you have this you don’t need a P85 as well.
If you’re a couple of years in to your new life abroad and have long since shredded these documents, don’t despair. We may still be able to get that tax back for you, it will just take longer to evidence your information correctly.
How much will I get in a Leaving the UK tax refund?
As we’ve previously stated, every claim is individual, so we can’t give you a specific number without knowing all your financial details. We can tell you that the amount we secure for clients averages at £900.
You can put your figures into our Leaving the UK Tax Back Calculator to get a more personalised estimate of what a claim is worth to you. This free tool does not collect your data, it simply makes a calculation based on the numbers you enter.
So if the Coronavirus has made you rethink where you consider home, just don’t leave Britain without your tax refund. Or, at the very least, the paperwork you need to make a claim.
You can do it once you’ve moved, although time differences can make talking to HMRC a bit tricky. Unless we do it for you. Then there’s literally nothing for you to do, except plan what you’re spending it on.
