MusaKenema

Hi All,

I am currently a UK resident and work and pay taxes here. Thinking of pplying for jobs overseas, I would like to know what that means for my Tax status here and whether I will still be expected to pay UK Income Tax . In particular, I am looking at a 1 year contract in Africa with an International Organization that was setup by the UN and an African country to try war criminals. The organisation is NOT a UN body but an International Organization in its own right.

I think employees of the UN are exempt from paying UK Income Taxes even if they are British residents AND based in the UK. Is there a similar blanket exemption for employees of all International Organizations ?

All help and pointers to where I can find this information will be greatly appreciated.

Thanking you,
MK.

Ophelia

Hi. You really want to get in touch with the Inland Revenue, explain the situation and they will tell you. I dont know enough to give you a definate answer, but as far as I am aware, you pay tax to the country where you are based/living, not necessarily the country where you are getting the work/money from. But get in touch with them and they will tell you exactely what you need to know.

JAJ

There may be an exemption from local tax if working for an international organisation.

As for the UK situation, normally British citizens resident overseas are not assessed for income tax on non-UK income, HOWEVER if you are working for an international organisation and are UK recruited, or if working for a UK sponsored organisation, there *might* be a continuing liability to UK tax.

The organisation you are planning to join should be able to tell you what the tax situation will be, but do verify it.

Jeremy

MusaKenema

Thanks for taking the time to reply folks.

I did manage to talk to the Inland Revenue (IR) after posting this query. Unfortunately they could not give me a firm answer either !!

I wasn't convinced by the answer I got as the two departments I spoke to said that it all depends on what I declare as my "plan" of action before I leave. For example, if I tell them that I am leaving to work overseas on a 1 year contract but I don’t "intend" to return after that period, then I will not be taxed in the UK from the day I leave the country even if I return after the 12 months. On the other hand, if I tell them that I am leaving to work overseas on a 1 or 2 year contract and I intend to return to the UK after that, then I will be liable to pay UK income tax throughout. Somehow this still doesn't sound correct to me. If the above really is true, then what is to stop everybody claiming that they do not "intend" to return to the UK when they first leave.

Anyway, I found the IR document IR20 much clearer (that is not to say it was exactly clear cut) than what I was told over the phone. If you are interested, you can get it at the IR site : http://www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/pdfs/ir20.pdf

In summary, the IR20 document implies that I will not be liable to UK income tax because I will be performing all of my duties overseas and will be paid from an organisation based overseas (into my UK account) - though, I will only know for sure after filling in IR form P85 (Leaving the United Kingdom).

I will keep you posted if I learn anything new.

Thanks again,
MK.