Income tax rise for British expats

From pension transfers into beneficial QROPS to careful tax planning, expats have a lot to consider so that they can be financially confident and live their life abroad to the fullest.

But with Brexit looming, there are other considerations afoot. For example, should expats keep their British citizenship or apply for nationality in their new expat homeland? And according to new statistics, it appears that the Brexit referendum result has had a significant effect on the number of Britons gaining citizenship elsewhere in the EU.

Figures from Eurostat, the EU’s statistics agency, show a substantial surge in the number of Britons acquiring citizenship in other EU countries between 2015 (2,478) and 2016, when the number more than doubled to 6,555 – that’s an increase of 165 percent. The figures include both those who chose to adopt dual citizenship, so that they kept their British citizenship, as well as those who renounced it.

Many UK expatriates do not realise that even if they have left and are no longer resident in the UK, they remain UK-domiciled and therefore subject to UK Inheritance Tax (IHT) on their worldwide estate at a rate of 40 per cent after allowances. This can come as a major shock. 

What can be done about this? There are several options. 

Transfers of wealth on death between husband and wife are exempt from IHT, but only if the spouse is also domiciled in the UK (or both are non-domiciled). This catches out many expatriates who have married a foreign passport holder who is likely to be domiciled elsewhere. Even then, the IHT is only delayed rather than avoided, because on the death of the survivor the tax will be payable on the passing of the family assets to the next generation.