BUZZ ACCOUNTINGUK tax from abroad, explained properly.
Long-form, plain-English, and written by the people who file these returns every week. Free — the same explanations our clients get.
The Statutory Residence Test, explained properly
Whether the UK taxes your worldwide income comes down to a mechanical test of days, ties and work. This is how it actually works — the automatic tests, the ties table, the split-year rules and the evidence that wins arguments with HMRC.
The Non-resident Landlord Scheme: keeping all of your rent
Move abroad and your letting agent is legally required to send 20% of your rent to HMRC — unless you stop them with one form. How the scheme works, what the annual return involves, and the allowance question that decides whether you owe anything at all.
Selling UK property from abroad: the 60-day rule
Every non-resident who sells UK land or property must file a return within 60 days of completion — profit or loss, tax or no tax. The rebasing choice that shrinks most long-held gains, the penalty clock, and the rescue routine when you find out late.
Moving to the UK: the four-year FIG regime
The non-dom era is over. Since April 2025, qualifying new arrivals get four tax years in which foreign income and gains are completely free of UK tax — money you can bring into the country freely. Who qualifies, what it covers, and the mistakes already costing people the relief.
Voluntary National Insurance from abroad
For £3.50 a week, most working expats can keep their UK State Pension growing while they're away. It is the best-returning financial decision available to a British expat, and the majority never make it. Who qualifies for Class 2, what the six-year window means, and when buying is genuinely the wrong call.
Letting your home when you move abroad
The most common expat property story isn't an investor with a portfolio — it's a family who moved for work and kept the house. Everything that needs doing, in the order it needs doing: before you fly, when the tenancy starts, every year after, and when you eventually sell.
Filing UK returns from abroad: the plumbing nobody warns you about
HMRC's own website cannot file the pages that make you non-resident. Add a dead UK SIM, a locked Government Gateway and a helpline that opens at 3am your time, and January gets ugly. Here's the whole mechanical side, fixed in advance.
Double tax treaties: why you won't be taxed twice (if the paperwork is right)
Two countries can both have claims on the same income. Treaties decide who wins what, and credits mop up the rest — but every protection in a treaty is claimed on a return, not applied by magic. How the system fits together for the classic expat cases.