More and more taxpayers are having an involvement with international tax issues. If you are UK resident, then your worldwide income is taxable in the UK although you may be able to offset some or all of any international tax paid.
We can help you to establish if you are liable to any tax in the UK, in addition to – or instead of – foreign taxes.
Some scenarios are simple: dividends from Santander can lead to the need to report using the Foreign Pages on your Income Tax Return.
Others are more complex: but we can deal with almost every double tax issue arising in almost every jurisdiction.
If you are employed in a foreign country; have part of your income taxed in various countries; or, you may need to meet special criteria to claim relief; then we can help you.
There are other dispensations and computational adjustments that can also be taken into account. Many accountants are unaware of the non-taxable elements of foreign Earnings and how to ensure they are not taxed in the UK by default.
Our systems are geared to delivering a comprehensive tax service to clients irrespective of the pan-national issues arising.
In the past 12 months we have successfully helped over 100 clients with foreign income from the countries listed below in a variety of currencies:
- Norway
- Eurozone
- Russia
- Azerbaijan
- Japan
- USA
- Nigeria
- Angola
- Kenya
- Equatorial Guinea
- Australia
- Singapore
- Malaysia
- Brazil
HMRC respect our ability to resolve issues, and we work with them closely even when we fight a client’s corner tooth and nail.
International tax case studies
- A client is employed by a listed company and received a tax certificate from PwC which HMRC “knew” was wrong but couldn’t explain why. After much correspondence we realised that the certificate had a ludicrously basic arithmetic error and as a consequence we were able to successfully argue that no penalties were payable by our client as a result of the error.
- We were recently engaged by another firm to provide “white label” tax consultancy in respect of new regional taxes introduced by a major oil-rich country. The other firm were very satisfied, and kept their client happy too.
- A client was employed by a multi-national company in a former Soviet country and for many years we had helped him make a claim for double tax relief on his foreign income. During the tax year, he changed employers, but was still paid in US Dollars into a UK bank account for work done in Central Asia. As a result he was liable to a restriction in the offset of foreign tax against his total income. We were able to work with the client to maximise the amount of foreign tax that could be claimed against the UK tax liability, and hence keep the UK tax liability to a minimum. As a result of the experience, the client now consults with us in advance of changing employers, to ensure that the timing is at the most beneficial. When you are paying 40% tax this is important.
- We act for many clients working in Norway, or who have suffered Norwegian tax. Clients expect us to complete Norwegian Tax returns electronically and ensure that the Norwegian tax issues also appear on their UK Tax Returns in the most beneficial manner. We are currently working with a number of clients to renegotiate their employment benefits to ensure that any benefits are taxed in the lower tax country (normally the UK) and that they can maximise their claim for allowances in the higher tax country – usually Norway.
- A seaman for whom we have acted for many years recently suffered tax in three countries and had to submit three tax returns, two of which were repayments and the UK tax return had to reflect the totality of his total worldwide income, whist claiming relief for net foreign tax suffered. Of course the foreign countries charge tax on the calendar year basis, which further complicated matters…… But we have the knowledge and ability to sort this quickly and efficiently.
Disclaimer
The information provided is for general information purposes only.
Legislation and details may have changed since this was written. The text may not include all matters that are relevant to your individual situation.
You should not make decisions, or refrain from making decisions, without taking further professional advice about your specific circumstances.