Working in the middle east ,tax issues

[ContrataxLtd]

The prerequisite condition is that you are out of the UK a FULL tax year before you can claim non tax resident status. In the year of departure and year of arrival in the UK you an claim split year treatment. But, again, you MUST have been out of the UK for a FULL tax year to qualify. As the OP has only been away six months (if I read correctly) then it is impossible for him to pass any of the automatic overseas tests. I suggest to begin with the OP uses the HMRC on line tool which determines if you are non tax resident or not. As it stands, I see no hope for the OP avoiding UK tax on his earnings.

Maybe I have mis understood the OP but from how I read his post he left the UK last tax year (2016/17) so he may or may not have been able to claim split year treatment from the day he left last tax year to ensure his overseas income wasn't subject to UK tax - if he is working full time overseas in 2017/18 for the whole tax year he would likely have qualified for split year treatment.

If he is working full time overseas in 2017/18 or doesn't spend more than 16 days in the UK during 2017/18 then again he is likely to be non resident in the UK for tax purposes based on the limited information available.

If the OP is only working overseas for 6 months then returning to the UK he will probably remain tax resident throughout, although a long holiday abroad can sometimes be cheaper than paying the UK tax that would become due.

As I think everyone agrees, this can be a very complex area to advise on as there are a large number of factors to consider and can even depend on future actions of a following tax year so professional advice is always recommend. There is no way proper advice could be given on a forum, just general pointers and that's why advice on non residency is often reasonable costly (although for the tax normally at stake it's relatively cheap!).

Martin
Contratax Ltd

[Fred Bloggs]

Maybe I have mis understood the OP but from how I read his post he left the UK last tax year (2016/17) so he may or may not have been able to claim split year treatment from the day he left last tax year to ensure his overseas income wasn't subject to UK tax - if he is working full time overseas in 2017/18 for the whole tax year he would likely have qualified for split year treatment.

If he is working full time overseas in 2017/18 or doesn't spend more than 16 days in the UK during 2017/18 then again he is likely to be non resident in the UK for tax purposes based on the limited information available.

If the OP is only working overseas for 6 months then returning to the UK he will probably remain tax resident throughout, although a long holiday abroad can sometimes be cheaper than paying the UK tax that would become due.

As I think everyone agrees, this can be a very complex area to advise on as there are a large number of factors to consider and can even depend on future actions of a following tax year so professional advice is always recommend. There is no way proper advice could be given on a forum, just general pointers and that's why advice on non residency is often reasonable costly (although for the tax normally at stake it's relatively cheap!).

Martin
Contratax Ltd

I agree with you. Though with a copy of RDR3 in front of me and a copy of TaxCalc Personal edition, I worked through a similar situation for myself about two months ago. Took me a couple of hours. For a relatively simple expat case like this, following the HMRC guides isn't really that difficult in my experience. I certainly worked it all out OK, I had all the information to hand. Though, as you say, professional assistance can be sought if required.