Country Guides

Do I pay UK tax if I move to Jersey or Guernsey?

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

The short answer

Yes, at least at first: the islands' 20% income tax, zero capital gains tax and zero inheritance tax do nothing until you have broken UK tax residence under the Statutory Residence Test, and until then the UK taxes your worldwide income wherever you sleep. Once you are genuinely non-resident, the UK taxes only your remaining UK-source income, such as rental profits and gains on UK property, and the comprehensive 2018 UK treaties with each island send most pensions to the island. The catch is proximity: short hops back are exactly how day counts and ties quietly rebuild UK residence.

Jersey and Guernsey both tax income at 20%, with no capital gains tax and no inheritance tax, but none of it starts until you are non-resident under the Statutory Residence Test.
Island days count as days outside the UK, so a full-time job in St Helier or St Peter Port can satisfy the full-time work abroad route: fewer than 91 UK days and no more than 30 UK workdays.
UK rental profits stay UK-taxable under the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme, and gains on UK property must be reported and paid within 60 days of completion, even where no tax is due.
The limited 1952 arrangements are gone: comprehensive UK agreements have been in force since 19 December 2018 for Jersey and 7 January 2019 for Guernsey, and most pensions are taxable only where you live, with government service pensions staying with the UK.
Neither island has inheritance tax, but the UK's residence-based IHT tail can keep a long-term UK resident's worldwide estate within UK IHT for up to 10 years after leaving.

The 20% rate only starts once the UK lets go

Jersey and Guernsey are Crown Dependencies with their own tax systems: 20% on income, no capital gains tax, no inheritance tax. But the island systems only take over once you are non-resident under the Statutory Residence Test, and St Helier is 45 minutes from Gatwick, so this corridor produces more failed exits than most. Island days are days abroad for the SRT, so a full-time island job can satisfy the full-time work abroad test, but a leaver who keeps a UK home available and whose family stays behind can find their entire allowance is 46 UK days or fewer under the sufficient ties test. Split-year treatment can tax you as non-resident from your departure date, claimed on the SA109 pages of your final return.

What stays UK-taxable, and the 2018 treaties

UK-source income stays connected: rental profits on a kept property run through the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme, and gains on UK residential property must be reported and paid within 60 days of completion under the NRCGT rules. On pensions the answer is now the modern one: the old 1952 arrangements were terminated and replaced by comprehensive agreements in force from 19 December 2018 for Jersey and 7 January 2019 for Guernsey, under which pensions paid to an island resident are taxable only on the island, at 20%, while government service pensions broadly stay with the UK. Come back within five years, though, and the temporary non-residence rules can tax gains you realised while away, which matters when the local CGT rate was zero.

The IHT tail the islands cannot fix

Neither island levies inheritance tax, and that lures people into assuming the move fixes UK IHT. It does not: since 6 April 2025 the rules are residence-based, so someone who was UK resident for at least 10 of the previous 20 tax years stays within UK IHT on their worldwide estate for between 3 and 10 tax years after departure, and UK-situated assets stay within UK IHT permanently. The full corridor detail, including Jersey's High Value Residency regime and Guernsey's tax caps, is in our Channel Islands guide. Horizon runs the UK side of these exits on fixed fees agreed upfront, and a free clarity call will tell you what yours involves before any work starts.

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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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