Jeremy contacted us when he was working in the Middle East, but wasn’t enjoying his time out there.  Jeremy was a seasoned expat and was aware that he had not yet spent enough time outside the UK to break UK tax residence domestically.  His family was based in the UK, meaning that an argument for treaty residence outside the UK was unlikely, and he was conscious that if he returned to the UK before the end of the tax year he would be subject to tax on his entire employment income from outside the UK.

We worked with him to plan what was needed to ensure that he was UK tax non-resident for the period of his employment in the Middle East, which included the application of split year treatment in the year of his departure from the UK (and the remainder of the relevant tax year), as well as supporting him with the filing of his UK tax returns for the period of non-residence.

We also spotted an issue with his prior year’s tax return, which prevented a lengthy enquiry process as well as allowing the tax treatment that he needed for the year of his departure.