Leaving the UK

Do I need to tell HMRC when I leave the UK?

Answered by Jordan Onraet-Wells, Founder & Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA). Published 17 July 2026. Last reviewed 17 July 2026.

The short answer

Yes, if you are leaving the UK to live abroad permanently, or going to work abroad full time for at least one full tax year; you do not need to tell HMRC about holidays or business trips. You tell them on form P85 if you will not complete a Self Assessment tax return for the year you leave, or on the SA109 residence pages of your return if you will. Telling HMRC is also what triggers any refund of tax overpaid through PAYE before you left.

You must tell HMRC if you leave to live abroad permanently or to work abroad full time for at least one full tax year; holidays and business trips do not count.
Not in Self Assessment: file form P85, with parts 2 and 3 of your P45 if you have them.
In Self Assessment: report the departure on the SA109 residence pages of your return instead; you do not need a P85 as well.
Exception: an employee of a UK employer working abroad for at least a complete tax year files a P85 too, so HMRC can issue an NT code and pay future salary gross.
HMRC pays leaving-year PAYE refunds by payable order posted to you or a nominee, banked into a UK account in that name, so keep one open.
A P85 does not by itself make you non-resident: that still turns on the Statutory Residence Test.

Which form: P85 or Self Assessment

The route depends on whether you complete a Self Assessment return for the leaving year. If not, for example your only UK income was a PAYE job that has ended, file form P85. If you do file, as a landlord, self-employed person or otherwise, GOV.UK is explicit that you do not need the P85: you report the departure on the SA109 residence pages attached to your return. One exception mixes the routes: an employee of a UK employer working abroad for at least a complete tax year files a P85 as well, because the P85 triggers the NT code that lets future salary be paid gross.

The common trap: the P85 is not a residence ruling

Telling HMRC you have left is not the same as becoming non-resident. Your residence position for the year is decided by the Statutory Residence Test, and split-year treatment is never automatic: you must claim it on the SA109 by identifying the correct split-year case. A P85 updates HMRC's records and starts the refund process, but on its own it neither confirms non-residence nor splits the year.

The refund, and how to file from abroad

There is usually money in it. PAYE spreads the £12,570 Personal Allowance (2026/27) evenly across the tax year, so a mid-year leaver has normally overpaid, and the P85 or SA109 is what releases the refund. HMRC pays it by payable order (a cheque) to you or a nominee and will not pay fees to convert or send it abroad, so keep a UK bank account open. If you file Self Assessment, HMRC's free online service does not support the SA109: paper returns are due by 31 October after the tax year, or 31 January through commercial software. Our leaving the UK forms and refund guide works through every form and a refund calculated to the pound.

Go deeper

Sources and further reading

This is general information for the 2026/27 UK tax year, not personal tax advice; speak to a Chartered Tax Adviser about your own position.

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