Can I claim a tax refund?

Question

I am a UK citizen working for a UK company and paying UK taxes but spend most of my time working overseas. In the last financial year (april 2006 to april 2007) I predict that I will have been in the UK for less than 80 days. Can I claim back any tax I have paid as I have not been in the UK?

Answer 1

Income tax on your job needs to be paid in the country where you are resident. You can become non-resident in the UK so long as you become resident somewhere else (and therefore pay income tax there), and come to the UK for less than 91 days a year.

At the very least, if you become liable to tax in another country, you can claim tax paid there against your tax bill here. But you can't float around the world and pay no taxes anywhere - you have to be resident somewhere.

Also, if you have a UK employment contract then it might be more difficult to prove you were resident elsewhere, and you might fall foul of rule 2.1:

"You are resident and ordinarily resident in the UK if you usually live in this country and only go abroad for short periods - for example, on holiday or on business trips."

The other problem is that you are supposed to tell them when you leave the UK - I'm not sure if you can claim it retrospectively.

Answer 2

You have to be residing outside of the UK for less than 60 days in any tax year to not pay or get a refund of UK tax.

Answer 3

You can claim tax refund if you have overpaid tax. If you have recidency somewhere else then UK (if you are in the UK less then 180 days in one tax year, then you do not have recidency here for tax purposes) you migh need to pay tax in the country you are working even on your british earnings! It depends which country you are working for and what agrements were made between that country and UK. You need to contact Tax Office and check you situation.

Answer 4

You can claim tax back from the taxman if you leave UK to work abroad. This is what the Irish do. Contact your local tax office, which should be located somewhere in your Town Hall or find it in the phone book or just go on line.

Answer 5

It depends where your job is based. Check with your local tax office as it is normally a requirement to be out of the country for a year, however some jobs, like seafaring, the requirement is to out of the country for more than 182 days.

Answer 6

I found a site listed here:

http://www.forcehigh.com/businessdirectory/financial/loans.shtml

They will help you out with your tax rebates