Tax Rules for British Ex-Pats

As a long time British Middle Eastern Expat I can assure you that there are no restrictions on investing your money onshore back in the UK in property, as long as you are still offshore when you repatriate the money. If you get home before the money then there are tax implications for you. Obviously if you send you money into onshore UK bank accounts interest earned is then liable for UK tax at the usual thresholds from that date forwards, as is any income originated in the UK, even though you are officially non-resident.

All good advice so far but...

does anyone know if there are any restrictions on investing, in the UK, the money earned tax free? i.e. can earn tax free money in Qatar and buy property in the UK with it?

Guys, my mate is a financial advisor back in the UK, & he told me to get an R85 form from the tax office or download it from their website. You complete the form & hand it in to the banks you you intend to send money back to. Apparently this (depending on how long you are outside the UK for) this will then stop any taxation............i think!!

Also, you may wish to consider voluntary contributions to your pension, as any pension you may have in the UK will be frozen. I think the contribution by direct debit as about 7.50 GBP a month

I'm sure this has already been mentiond in the above posts, but i couldn't be bothered to reed them all

Hope this helps!!

Any earnings you have made outside the UK will not be taxed on your return. I checked with the HM Tax office. I too am hoping to work for DAGOC.

Hey Branston!

Getinandstayin is right you need to be out the country from april 6th til april 6th and not be back for more than 91 days.

-You need to be in full time employment throughout that whole period

- and they state you should be in a settled environment! whatever thats means.

You also need to fill in the nonresidents form form the tax office.

Even if you fulfil all these requirments if teh person signing off your form thinks you`ve just stayed out of teh country to avoid paying tax they can still investigate you and your intentions and make you pay if they decide to! so if your planning on doing this don`t spen your tax until they`ve signed off your form!after april 07.

However somebody gave you a link earlier which will probably explain all this a little better than me!!

Yeah ... everything in Doha getting more expensive now. Been here for nearly 5 yrs and i can see price of things going up. :-(

Rent + Utilities = QR8.5K !!!

This is very low according to thr market rates, you need at least QR13K to QR15K if you plan to live in a villa.

Ayman

Branston.. you are exempt from UK Income tax if you leave for full-time employment abroad for at least a complete tax year (the year that starts on 6 April) provided that: you spend less than 183 days in the UK in any tax year; and your average visits to the UK are less than 91 days a tax year taken over a maximum of four tax years.

hope that helps

Respect

GIASI

Cost of living has gone up by over 15% in last two years so be careful. I don't know but I would think it cost as much to live here as UK or US so you would need the same take home pay.

Salary and Allowances

Thanks Ayman. Basically back at my current location I'm getting around QR28K (after conversion to QR).

So now what they're offering is about the same numbers as what currently I'm getting. I understand no personal tax in Qatar. The company also provided the education expenses. But I'm not sure how much will it cost for my kids (8 years old + 9 years old) to attend good English medium school. I also did some research & got one article from Gulf Times dated Nov 18, 2004 on cost of living in Doha (based on research by Economics & Planning Department). The breakdown as below :

Rent + Utilities = QR8.5K

Foods + Misc expenses = QR5K

Transport = QR1.2K

Club + Sports = QR0.8K

Education = QR3K

Clothing + Soundries = QR2K

Insurance + Healthcare = QR0.5K

So I'm not sure whether the above figures still valid for 2006?

Thanks Beefy, I'll give HMR&C a call.

And thank you to you as well Matador - sounds very complicated, probably best get a professional involved.

There is a 90 day rule in a finacial year. Where by if your in the country over 90 days in the year then you'll have to pay tax. If your under 90 days then you won't.

That is why Robbis williams lives in the US and only spends 90 days to the hour in the u.k. or something like that. If you wants loads more info then contact a financial advisor, although he will take a cut. There are so many laws that people don't know about, for exampe the 90 day rule can accumalate after 3 years or somehting. I'm not sure its what I've been told.

Matador

I think you have to be out of the UK for a certain amount of time before you can re enter the country without getting taxed.

You need to give HM Revenu & Customs a call. They're very helpful and will answer all of your questions. There's loads of contact numbers on this link: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/contactus/helplines.htm.

All the best........

Ujang,

It is really confusing for me and to the other members to answer such question, you should tell us about your background, your current life style and maybe your current salary so we can give you a proper answer.

Ayman

I just got an offer from one of the Qatar local company. Offering me with basic = QR16K, housing allowance = QR9.9K & transportation allowance = QR1K. This is suppose to be quite a senior position. I'm not familar with Doha cost of living. Is this salary package sufficient for me plus 3 family members to stay in Doha?

Ayman - true, the money you receive in hand in Qatar is technically not taxed therefore "tax free", BUT people DO do have to look at the tax implications in their home country, especially if they are here for less than a full financial year.

branstonpickle - I am not sure you will get accurate enough advice here on this board; it may well be worth speaking to a tax lawyer before you come to Qatar. I am not a Brit so much of what I say might be totally inaccurate for your situation. I am also in no way an expert in this area, so basically nothing I say below should be taken as definite - please check out what applies to your personal situation.

If the country where you earn income has a double tax agreement (or similar) with your home country, you might be able to just submit your tax return in the UK as normal, listing only any income earned in your home country (eg interest in bank account, any rent income from a house etc). The agreement basically says that the two countries accept that the other country can tax their citizen on earnings there (abroad), and the home country will not apply further taxes on that money when it is brought back (to the home country).

Your home country might allow you to declare yourself "not a resident for tax purposes" on your tax return for that year, so that any income earned overseas during that financial year is not taxed. BUT if you do that, you may well incur tax implications such as: you might have to pay the highest tax level on any income earned in your home country; or there might be tax implications on selling property or shares.

Also remember that your travels might not co-incide neatly with the financial year, so there might be two year's worth of tax considerations.

That probably wasn't much specific help, sorry, but basically my message is please check it out fully yourself, and DON'T just listen to the "oh, it's tax-free, you'll be fine" story.

Edited To Add: Glad to see you are already looking at it, hopefully a fellow Brit can come on and give you more specific tips. I still say get your own advice, though... :)

Thanks Ayman, but I mean what the British government will try and take off me when I return back to England.

If you mean about the tax here then don't worry cause there is no tax and your salary will be the same without any deduct.

Ayman