smallpiff

Hi there,

I escaped from the UAE in December. My employer has now got around to paying bonus and relocation (insh' allah it will arrive soon).

My question relates to the UK authorities. I took advantage of split year relief when I returned and am now happily (?) employed for an engineering company in Manc. However when my bonus arrives I expect it may register on the suspicious payments register, being both sizeable and from the Middle East.

My question, how do I explain the payment in terms of keeping it safe from taxation? It was earned when I was non-resident and I don't think George Osborne has a right to any of it.

Any views?

regards

Johnnyboy11

Best get proper advice on this one, I think there is a real risk you will be liable to full UK Income Tax and NI on your bonus, when (if) it arrives.

Assuming so, you can protect up to £40k of it from Income Tax by paying it into a private pension (online SIPP or similar) in the tax year that you receive it, which you can access from age 55 onwards (first 25% can be taken as a tax-free lump sum and the rest taxed at you marginal tax rate when you withdraw your pension). The rules change in April, giving more pension freedoms, but there are catches...

Input your anticipated UK earnings and bonus into an online UK tax calculator and play around with your gross pension contribution until you are happy with the resulting tax bill.

Hope this helps.

[J]

smallpiff

Johnnyboy this sounds unpleasant. I'm aware of the SIPP potential however I was hoping to use the cash for a property purchase. To have to divert it away from this would be unfavourable. Surely the issue should relate to when the money was earned, not paid, as it does with standard UK accounting? Advice sounds like a good idea.

co durham boy

Book at weekend to Dubai , get cash from your ex firm then get blotto and arrive back with your suitcase stuffed with pound notes .

Oh and dont declare nothing .

smallpiff

Please explain how the getting blotto would help (other than in returning to the UK of course....)!? Declaration limit is around £6k I think. Actually the bonus isn't too much more anyway......

co durham boy

You're looking at a bog standard transfer of less than 10 grand . I don't think your bank manager will be getting a call from MI5


No need to get blotto lad just have a few halves of shandy .

Millhouse

take a friend with you then and double up

smallpiff

Still having doubts about this. Joking about suitcases aside there is a real risk that a late bonus can negatively and unjustly impact someone who become/s resident back in the UK. Who of us in Middle East can say we work for a diligent employer who will ensure payments are made on time prior to return. Any delay could precipitate a payment which ethically the HMRC have no entitlement to, having been earned as a non resident over multiple tax years. There appears to be a scarcity of clear guidance on the subject. That should be of concern to all on this board.

co durham boy

Put it under the bed lad , ive been doing that for 20 years .

Debowing

Yes seriously the cash option is the best. Just go to various exchange shops in UAE so that you can buy your sterling pounds in different places then just take the cash back with you. Around 10,000 GBP is not that big an amount OR just buy a gold bar or two...They even have them at DXB duty free...

Or you could also go to Zurich or Lichtenstein and open a bank account.