Leaving the UK: get the tax right on the way out

Most people leave the UK with a removal van booked and no tax plan. The rules in the year of departure decide how much of that year's income the UK taxes, what happens if you sell shares or the company while you're away, and whether your State Pension quietly stops building. An hour of planning before (or shortly after) you go is worth more than any amount of tidying up later.

The departure review covers

• Your residence position under the Statutory Residence Test — the day-count limits you must respect after leaving, in writing, so there's no ambiguity about when UK taxation of your worldwide income stopped.
• Split-year treatment — whether your departure year splits, from what date, and what that does to your final payslips and any bonus paid after you go.
• P85 / final return — reclaiming overpaid PAYE from your leaving year (often four figures).
• The five-year trap — sell shares, crypto or the company while temporarily non-resident and return within five years, and the gain is taxed as if you never left. If an exit or sale is on the horizon, the timing of your return matters enormously.
• Property — NRL scheme registration if you're letting your home, and the CGT clock if you'll sell it later.
• National Insurance — whether to keep paying voluntarily (see voluntary NI) — at £3.50 a week, Class 2 is the best pension deal in Britain.
• ISAs and pensions — what freezes, what keeps growing, what you can still pay in (facts and tax treatment; we don't give investment advice).

How the review runs

1. Before the call: a short form — departure date, family, property, employer, share positions, pension.
2. The session: an hour on video, working through your day budget, split-year position, property plan, NI and the five-year rule as they apply to your actual dates.
3. Within 48 hours: a written action plan — what to do, in what order, with deadlines — plus the forms (P85, NRL1, CF83) queued for signature where you want us to run them.

What we'll need from you

• Your departure date (or window) and destination
• What stays behind: property, company, pensions, ISAs, share schemes
• Family plans — who moves, who stays, and when
• Payslips for the leaving year, when they exist

Why the leaving year is worth this much attention

Most of what determines your UK tax position for the next decade is settled in the twelve months around your departure, and almost all of it is cheap to get right in advance and expensive to fix afterwards. Split-year treatment either applies or it does not; a form filed in the right month produces a refund and the same form filed a year later produces a query; a property let without an NRL1 leaks 20% from the first rent payment.

What the review covers

• Your day budget, in writing. How many UK days you can spend in each of the next few tax years given your actual ties, with a margin, so visits home are planned rather than regretted.
• Split-year treatment. Which of the eight cases you fall into, what evidence supports it, and what it is worth. It decides whether your pre-departure income is taxed as a resident and the rest is not.
• Your P85 and any PAYE refund. Leaving part-way through a tax year usually means you have paid tax as though you were going to earn a full year's salary. That is reclaimed, not refunded automatically.
• The house. NRL1 if you are letting it, and the effect on private residence relief if you might sell later.
• The ISA and the pension. What you can keep, what you can no longer contribute to, and what your new country will make of both — because several countries tax an ISA that the UK does not.
• The five-year rule. Assets sold during a short absence can be taxed on your return if you come back within five years. This changes the timing of selling things, sometimes by a lot.
• National Insurance. Whether to keep paying, which class you qualify for, and the deadline for the years already behind you.

What you get, and what it costs

A written action plan with the deadlines against each item, and the forms either filed for you or prepared ready to file. The fee is £249, and it is credited in full against your first year's return if you go on to become a client — so for anyone who stays, the review costs nothing.

The best time to do this is three to six months before you go. The second best time is now, even if you left two years ago, because several of these items can still be picked up retrospectively.