Will My UK Holiday Trigger Tax Bill?

“There are two questions to tackle here,” says Dean Power of The Fry Group. “First the tax treatment of the property disposal in December 2010 and then any effect that your intended visit may have on this and your residence status in general.

“Looking at the property disposal, in truth there is nothing to concern yourself with in relation to possible tax exposure on the disposal proceeds. From the information provided, you appear to have been non-resident in the UK since 1997, as since that time you have made minimal visits to the UK and have established your life outside of the UK. The current rule for expats and capital gains tax is that once you have been non-resident for five complete tax years you are exempt from the charge to CGT while you remain non-resident. This means that the disposal of the property is and will remain exempt given your status at the time of disposal.

“This exemption will not be affected by your intended visit or indeed any subsequent change to your tax status that may or not occur.

“There is new legislation that determines when a person is resident and non-resident, but a visit of 21 days duration only would still see you being treated as non-resident.”