Will it happen???

Expat tax break threatened, spelling bad news for pensioners
The UK government’s assault on the finances of British expats continues as it threatens to review their personal tax allowances

Many of the five million Britons living and working overseas may have missed the announcement in the Budget last week that personal allowances for non-residents are set to be reviewed.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] ... c-overview

Every UK taxpayer has a personal allowance, which is the amount of income that can be earned before tax needs to be paid. For the 2014/15 tax year the level is set at £10,000 for a single person. Rates differ according to marital status and age. Non-residents are currently eligible for this allowance.

However, Chancellor George Osborne said: "
To ensure the UK personal allowance remains well targeted, the government intends to consult on whether and how the allowance could be restricted to UK residents and those living overseas who have strong economic connections in the UK, as is the case in many other countries, including most of the EU."


Any expat who derives an income from UK property or a pension, but is not resident in the UK for tax purposes, could be affected. Tax experts believe the personal allowance will still be made available to Britons living in the EU, but other countries could face changes. These include destinations such as the US and Australia which are popular with British expats.

Singapore-based Martin Rimmer, tax manager for the Fry Group, said: "
This could detrimentally affect those retirees living abroad who are currently not being taxed on their state pension, as well as the raft of others who receive income from UK sources. But it’s too early to say if the allowance will be withdrawn completely."




In April 2010, the government withdrew personal allowances for non-resident individuals who received them because they were citizens of Commonwealth countries. Another assault on expats, originally announced in the autumn Budget statement last year, was the introduction of capital gains tax when a non-resident sells UK property. This will be introduced in April 2015.

There were also some tweaks to the pension landscape in last week’s Budget which are designed to make it easier to withdraw money tied up in a pension pot. One of the more useful ones for an expat will allow those with pension pots of less than £30,000 to take this out as cash.

Daphne Foulkes, a financial adviser at the Spectrum IFA Group, said: "
If clients have just one small pension pot plus other sufficient sources of income and wealth, then the new rules will provide greater flexibility and could bridge the gap between early retirement and state pension age."



[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] ... oners.html

Expats face £400 million tax raid
Expat couples could be £4,000 a year worse off under plans to strip non-residents of the personal tax allowance



[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] ... -raid.html