Migrant worker/new to the UK

There is lots of detailed guidance on tax in the UK on the HMRC website which should help you find out what you need to know. The purpose of this section is to give you an overview, highlight some key issues so you aren’t overwhelmed with detail, and suggest what to do next if you are unsure.

Where to start

A good starting point is the HMRC page ‘Coming to work in the UK’ at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/migrantworkers/.

There is also the HMRC leaflet ‘Coming to work in the UK?’ which is available in 11 languages and can be found by following the link above (look at the bottom of the page for copies of the leaflet. Or copy the link to the English pdf file here http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/migrantworkers/english.pdf and substitute your country name from this list: Bulgarian Czech Hungarian Latvian Lithuanian Polish Portuguese Romanian Russian Slovakian).

Further guidance can be found on the DirectGov website at http://www.direct.gov.uk/ arriving in the UK and on the HMRC website at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/incometax/tax-arrive-uk.htm

Basis of UK taxation

How a person is taxed in the UK is based on three fundamental principles of ‘residence’, ‘ordinary residence’ and ‘domicile’.

Put very simply:-

• Residence – is generally based on your physical presence in the UK during a specific tax year.
• Ordinary residence – is generally based on your intentions to remain in the UK.
• Domicile – is generally the country which you consider to be your homeland.

These concepts are explained in more detail in the following pages but for further information HMRC’s interpretation of these principles can be found on their website at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/cnr/hmrc6.pdf