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Moving to the UK

What taxes do I pay when moving to the UK?

Answered by Jordan Onraet-Wells, Founder & Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA). Published 9 August 2026. Last reviewed 9 August 2026.

The short answer

Once you become UK tax resident under the Statutory Residence Test, the UK can tax your worldwide income and gains: Income Tax on earnings and investment income, Capital Gains Tax on disposals, and National Insurance once you work here. Two reliefs soften the landing: split-year treatment usually means you are taxed as a resident only from your arrival date, and the four-year FIG regime can relieve your foreign income and gains entirely if you were non-UK resident for the previous 10 tax years. UK-source income, such as a UK salary or UK rent, is taxable from day one regardless. Buying a home also brings Stamp Duty Land Tax into play, with a 2% surcharge for non-resident buyers.

  • Residence is decided by the Statutory Residence Test: 183 or more UK days in a tax year makes you automatically resident, but the home, work and sufficient ties tests can catch you on far fewer days.
  • Split-year treatment applies automatically if you meet one of the arriver cases, so foreign income and gains arising before your arrival date generally stay outside UK tax for 2026/27.
  • The FIG regime gives up to four years of relief on foreign income and gains after 10 consecutive tax years of non-UK residence, but each claim year costs the £12,570 personal allowance and the £3,000 CGT annual exempt amount.
  • Once any relief ends you pay Income Tax at 20%, 40% and 45% on worldwide income, with CGT at 18% and 24% above the £3,000 annual exempt amount.
  • You normally register for Self Assessment by 5 October following the end of your first tax year with UK tax to report.

Income Tax starts when residence starts

The Statutory Residence Test decides residence for each tax year running 6 April to 5 April. Spend 183 or more days in the UK and you are automatically resident; fewer days can still make you resident through the only-home test, full-time UK work, or the sufficient ties test. Being resident for the year does not mean the whole year is taxed, because split-year treatment divides the arrival year into an overseas part and a UK part when you meet one of the arriver cases (Case 4 to Case 8). It is not optional and you do not apply for it: if the conditions are met, foreign income and gains arising before your arrival date generally stay outside UK tax.

The four-year FIG shield on foreign income and gains

If 2026/27 is one of your first four tax years of UK residence after at least 10 consecutive tax years of non-UK residence, you can claim the FIG regime and pay no UK tax on qualifying foreign income and gains, and you can bring that money into the UK freely. The claim is made on your Self Assessment return year by year, and each claim year costs you the £12,570 personal allowance and the £3,000 CGT annual exempt amount, so it only pays when the sheltered income comfortably outweighs the allowances lost. UK-source income and gains are always taxable in the normal way, whatever you claim.

The rest of the bill: NI, CGT, SDLT and worldwide tax

Working in the UK normally means National Insurance through payroll, although a social security agreement or certificate of coverage from your home country can keep you in your home system for a period. Once your FIG window closes, or in any year you do not claim, you are taxed on worldwide income at 20%, 40% and 45% across the frozen bands, dividends at 10.75%, 35.75% and 39.35% above the £500 allowance, and gains at 18% and 24%. Foreign tax already paid is usually credited under double taxation relief. Buying a home adds Stamp Duty Land Tax, with a 2% surcharge for non-UK resident buyers on top of the standard bands, so the date you become resident can affect what you pay on a purchase.

Registering and getting year one right

You normally register for Self Assessment by 5 October following the end of the tax year in which you first have UK tax to report, so a 2026/27 arrival means 5 October 2027, with the online return and payment due by 31 January 2028. The first return is where your residence position, split-year date and any FIG claim are formally recorded, and mistakes there are the most expensive ones arrivers make. Horizon UK Tax Solutions handles arrival-year planning and first returns on fixed fees agreed upfront, with non-resident and expat returns from £550, and you can book a free clarity call at /book to map your position before you land.

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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