Moving to the UK

What UK taxes apply when moving from Canada?

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

The short answer

Once you are UK tax resident under the Statutory Residence Test, the UK can tax your worldwide income and gains, including Canadian rent, dividends, interest and capital gains. If you were non-UK resident for the previous 10 tax years, the four-year FIG regime can shelter your Canadian income and gains for your first four UK-resident years, provided you claim it each year. Treat your Canadian accounts individually: RRSPs and RRIFs are generally respected as pensions under the treaty, but a TFSA is not tax-free in the UK, and leaving Canada can trigger its own departure tax on the Canadian side.

UK-source income, such as a UK salary, is taxable from day one; qualifying Canadian income and gains can get 100% relief for four years through an annual FIG claim that costs you the personal allowance and CGT annual exempt amount.
RRSP and RRIF funds are respected as pensions so internal growth is not taxed while wrapped, but withdrawals are generally UK-taxable once you are resident, with Canadian withholding of broadly 25% and treaty relief depending on whether payments are periodic or lump sums.
A TFSA is not recognised by the UK: its interest, dividends and gains can be UK-taxable like an ordinary account once you are resident.
Ceasing Canadian residence triggers a deemed disposition of most capital property at fair market value, though Canadian real property, RRSPs, RRIFs and other registered plans are excluded.
From 6 April 2025 UK Inheritance Tax is residence-based: your worldwide estate comes into scope once you have been UK resident for 10 of the last 20 tax years.

Fixed-fee service

Your first UK tax return, prepared and filed

Complex Personal Tax Return, from £950

The first return sets the pattern: your residence start date, whether the year splits, and whether a FIG or Overseas Workday Relief claim is worth making. With income in two countries this is the Complex Personal Tax Return. A UK resident with UK income only needs the Standard return at £450. Your fixed quote is confirmed in writing before any work starts, and that is the total. Never hourly.

Your 2025/26 return with the SA109 residence pages and any split-year claim
Foreign income on the SA106 with foreign tax credit relief, converted into sterling
FIG and Overseas Workday Relief checked both ways before anything is claimed
Registration and your UTR handled if you have never filed, and filed as your authorised agent

Returns for new UK residents

The UK layer: residence, FIG and worldwide tax

Residence is decided mechanically by the Statutory Residence Test: 183 or more UK days in a tax year makes you automatically resident, and the home test, full-time work test and sufficient ties test can catch you on fewer. Arrive mid-year and split-year treatment usually means you are taxed as a resident only from arrival. The FIG regime is the most valuable relief: after at least 10 consecutive tax years of non-UK residence you can claim 100% relief on qualifying foreign income and gains for your first four UK-resident years. The claim is per source, per year, on your Self Assessment return, and each claim year costs the personal allowance and the CGT annual exempt amount. The clock runs from your first resident year whether you claim or not.

RRSPs, RRIFs and the TFSA trap

RRSPs and RRIFs are generally respected as pensions under the Canada-UK treaty, so the fund is not taxed on internal growth while it stays wrapped, but withdrawals are generally UK-taxable once you are resident. Canada usually withholds at a domestic rate of broadly 25%; the treaty makes qualifying periodic pension payments taxable only in the UK, so Canadian tax on those can generally be reclaimed, while lump sums work differently. A FIG claim can shelter foreign pension withdrawals during your first four years, which can make the window an efficient time to draw down if the Canadian side works too. The TFSA is the trap: the UK does not recognise the wrapper, so once resident its interest, dividends and gains can be UK-taxable like any ordinary account, and after your FIG years it is fully exposed. Review it before you become resident.

Departure tax, property and the IHT horizon

Leaving Canada is a Canadian tax event in its own right: the CRA generally treats you as having sold most capital property at fair market value on your departure date, crystallising gains even without a sale, though Canadian real property and registered plans are excluded and payment can sometimes be deferred until an actual sale. On the UK side, Canadian rental income becomes taxable once you are resident, with treaty credit for Canadian tax paid. Longer term, the UK's residence-based IHT system brings your worldwide estate into scope once you have been UK resident for 10 of the last 20 tax years, with the nil-rate band at £325,000. Horizon UK Tax Solutions models the Canadian and UK timelines together on fixed fees agreed upfront; book a free clarity call at /book before you set a departure date.

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.

Deadline 31 January 2027

Filing a 2025/26 return?

A Chartered Tax Adviser prepares and files it for you, including the pages HMRC's free online service cannot handle. Fixed fees from £450, non-resident and expat returns £750 fixed, agreed before any work starts.

Foreign Nationals in the UK

Applies to you? Ask us directly

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