seochris

I am considering moving to the ME on a 1 year (renewable) contract.

It is obviously tax free in the ME, is it also tax free in the UK?

Is there anything i have to do before i leave the UK in order to qualify?

busybee2

yeh its obviously tax free here, not when you have to pay "expenses" for everything.

auzdafluff

It's income tax and VAT free. You still have to paid the equivalent of of council tax and a couple of other things.

NorthernLad

There are a lot of 'hidden' taxes, but not enough to offset not paying income tax.

Be aware you need to be out of the UK a full tax year to be eligible for this - a colleague got caught out with this recently and had a whopping tax bill upon returning to the UK.

Meow

That depends on whether HMRC will consider you non-resident for tax purposes. If you are out of the UK for two partial tax years then you will not be non-resident and thus your overseas earnings will be liable for income tax. If you plan to accept a one year contract then you need to do it April to April.

seochris

Many thanks Meow and all the other guys who replied. Not that straight forward then?

Would I be liable for the whole lot or just for say the time i was in the UK in that tax year.

ie if i went in January what would be the situation if i cam back to the uk the following January?

shiva

SEOChris as in SEARCH ENGINE

google it FFS

or heck why not try call the tax man

Meow

Per my comment 'you would be liable to tax on overseas earnings' for partial years where you are considered UK resident.

gottheTshirt

You pay tax and NI on everything

Johnnyboy11

The UK Tax Concessions are like a switch - Off or On.

Off: You complete a full tax year, working full time overseas, and limit your visits to the UK to 90 days, then the UK tax switch is OFF. As a bonus, the tax year that you left the UK is split into a taxed bit and a non taxed bit (split year concession).

On: You fail to complete a full tax year working full-time abroad, even by a day, or spend more than 90 days visiting the UK, then the tax switch is ON and you pay full UK tax and NI on every penny that you earn abroad.

You can read for yourself here, HMRC6 Section 8.5

Hope this clarifies.

[J]