On 6th April of this year some significant changes in the world of UK pensions came into force. This will affect most UK pension holders so it’s important to be aware of how this could impact on your pension and retirement planning. This is a complicated topic, and admittedly not the most exciting, so this article aims to give an overview of the main points.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the latest budget on 18th March. Few of the announcements will directly affect people who are not currently resident in the UK so in this post I would just like to comment on some of the changes and announcements that will affect expats. This time round there were few surprises…
This is a topic I have mentioned in several articles on this website but the final guidance has now been issued by Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) so we have clarity as to how tax will be applied on the sale of UK properties owned by individuals who are not resident in the UK.
The UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, recently presented his last Autumn Statement before the General Election next year. There are a few announcements that may affect expats, so a brief overview of some of the most relevant issues is given below.
I’m not one for scaremongering, but for once there is a genuine deadline to take action for people in certain UK pension arrangements. If you are an expat with a UK occupational pension, often known as a Final Salary scheme, then you need to be aware of these changes.
At the present time everyone whether resident in the UK or living abroad benefits from the personal allowance, meaning that they can earn up to £10,000 a year in the UK before being liable to income tax, but under new Government proposals this is likely to change. This will affect anyone who receives an income from renting out a property whilst they are living overseas.
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The other week, George Osborne, the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer presented his latest budget to the House of Commons. Whilst this is largely UK focused many of the points are of relevance to UK expats and also to people with assets in the UK. This article is a brief overview of the relevant points.
If you are a British expat, have a UK pension or property in the UK, you need to read on…
Whilst this is UK legislation there are a number of announcements that will affect expats, as well as non-residents who own UK assets, so this article will clarify those issues rather than going through the whole statement. The full document as issued in the first week of December 2013 is some 130 pages long and not the most interesting thing to read!
The pertinent points for non-residents are as follows:
Property has once again become a hot topic in the UAE. Since ownership of apartments and villas was made available to non-GCC nationals in 2002 the UAE property market has grown incredibly fast as shown by the huge rate of development inland, as well as along the coast. Despite the downturn a few years ago which left many people with burnt fingers, many analysts believe that the price increases we are now seeing are based on more substantial fundamentals. Whilst this may be the case, I would still urge caution.
And if not buying here, many people are keen to buy in their home country or to buy a house in a place where they might like to retire to. It’s not just an Englishman’s home that is his castle and we all want to own the roof over our heads one day.
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A few years ago the UK Government in conjunction with Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) announced that they would be introducing a new residence test. The intention was to clarify the status of people both leaving and arriving in the UK and there has been considerable discussion regarding exactly how and when to implement this.
The aim originally was to bring these new rules into effect from 6th April 2012, but this has been postponed to 6th April 2013. The purpose of this post is to provide you with an overview of the current proposals, as amended by the draft legislation that was published in December 2012. We are still however, awaiting the final legislation so it is possible the rules could be changed again before they come into force, although we do not anticipate anything major to change. Continue reading