Exit taxation in the UK

Quick summary: What’s this booklet about?

The UK is widely recognized as a high-tax country as it may charge personal income tax at the rate of
up to 45% and a corporate tax of 19%. That is why many UK residents choose to depart for low-tax jurisdictions.

For example, companies and individuals established in Bulgaria pay a flat corporate/personal income tax of just 10%. Furthermore, Bulgaria’s EU membership allows such companies to benefit from the EU freedom of movement and all advantages provided by EU law.

However, similarly to many other western countries, the UK taxman will not allow you to easily escape its grip. To avoid UK taxes, you first need to ensure that you are not a UK tax resident (Section 2). Afterwards, you need to be careful not to return in the UK within a time period of five years following
your departure as such a return may lead to taxes on certain income and gains with a retrospective effect (Section 3). We will provide recommendations on how to avoid paying the UK retrospective taxes (Section 4). Last but not least, if you escape from the UK tax jurisdiction, you can still be subject to taxes if you have income from UK-sources (Section 5). In this article, we will examine the aforementioned topics and will provide concluding remarks (Section 6).

By reading this book, you will learn:

1. INTRODUCTION
2. UK RESIDENCY

• 2.1 RUMBELOW & ANOR V. REVENUE & CUSTOMS
• 2.2 HMRC V GLYN

3. RETROSPECTIVE TAXATION ON CERTAIN INCOME AND GAINS

• 3.1 INCOME THAT MAY BE SUBJECT TO RETROSPECTIVE TAXES

4. AVOID THE UK RETROSPECTIVE TAXES 
5. TAXATION OF NON-RESIDENTS 
6. CONCLUSION