Personalised Portfolio Bonds and UK Situs Assets

Personalised Portfolio Bonds are taxable for UK residents based on the T&Cs of the policy permitting such investments rather than the underlying investment.

UK OEICS, Unit Trusts and GILTS are excluded property for UK IHT when owned by non-UK domiciled individuals. However, the exclusion does not list UK: equities, fixed interest securities investment trusts, bank/ deposit accounts and ETFs.

The IHT nil rate band is available to everyone regardless of domicile, follow this link for information.

Treasury consultation on a statutory definition tax residence

An interesting article from Citywire on the proposals from HMRC with regard to imposing a statutory test for tax residency.

Double taxation Digest

Information from HMRC on double taxation agreements and in particular personal allowances for non-residents,

Tax exiles under the spot light.

The recent Gaines-Cooper ruling brings tax residency in to question.

Non-resident? HMRC 6

HMRC 6 is the replacement to the IR20 booklet and sets out the criteria for determining whether or not an individual is UK resident for tax purposes. The main innovation is the removal of day counting and the introduction of the "Factors ". The only time when only day counting will be used is the 183 day rule. HMRC is attempting to take away the perceived certainty of the day counting and replace it with a vague set of Factors which need to be considered before it is accepted that someone is non resident. This means that it is no longer good enough for individuals to simply, for example, avoid spending 90 days per annum in the UK to avoid being UK resident. HMRC will look at other Factors (such as available accommodation). This is clearly unsatisfactory for taxpayers as it is difficult to predict what the outcome will be in each case. Follow the links for more information Thomas Eggar HMRC (page 15).