Taxes and UK Immigration

Taxation and moving to the UK

Even if they share terminology, philosophies and underlying concepts, and sometimes look the same at first glance, the laws of each country differ wildly.

One area of law where you might expect that things would be very similar the world over is taxation law, but this is not the case. Whilst people from most countries will be familiar with income tax, land transfer taxes, property taxes, inheritance tax and sales taxes, the way in which these taxes operate and interact will often be completely different in separate jurisdictions.

Businesses and private individuals who are thinking about moving to the UK will need to take comprehensive advice from a specialist tax advisor for two main reasons:

• Tax allowances and tax reliefs can be complicated and difficult to interpret and a specialist advisor can make sure that you are taking full advantage of any tax relief to which you are entitled;
• Certain transactions which do not attract any tax liability in your home country may be taxable under UK law, and it is better to know in advance about this, not only so that you can plan for the eventual tax bill, but also so that you can declare the transaction properly and avoid any fines or other action by the tax authorities for non-compliance.

Compared to countries such as the United States and Caribbean nations, the UK has quite a high tax burden, with relatively few types of tax relief or discount available. For people or businesses which have substantial assets in their home nation, it may pay to leave those assets where they are if you want to minimise the tax which they attract. A tax specialist can review your assets and help to determine what you should bring over to the UK and what you should leave offshore.