Chartered Accountants
Residence and Domicile
A couple approached us as they were intending to relocate to the UK from Hong Kong, where they had lived for a number of years. The husband is Chinese and the wife is Scottish and they were both looking for advice on their domicile positions as well as whether there was a best time to move to the UK for tax-planning purposes.
How we helped our client
Following several telephone conversations and emails to understand their positions as they were still in Hong Kong, EQ offered to prepare a report detailing their residency and domicile position and the options available to them. EQ suggested a date to move to the UK which would maximise the tax savings possible while also meeting the clients’ objectives and would qualify for split year treatment under the UK’s Statutory Residence Test.
As the husband is Chinese and the wife Scottish, their domicile positions were different. In addition to domicile being an important consideration for income tax purposes, it also has significant implications for inheritance tax purposes, so EQ detailed the options available to the clients as part of the report and then followed this up with specific advice once they had considered their options.
The clients were very happy that we had not focussed our advice solely on tax matters but had also looked at the best options available to them to achieve their lifestyle goals in conjunction with the tax-planning advice given.
For more information or to discuss further, please contact the International Tax – For Individuals Taxperts.
