Money transfer

Dear HMRC team Before moving to the UK as a resident (Tier2), when I was working in UAE, I bought Bangladesh Government - Wage Earner Development Bonds from my savings. According to Bangladesh Central Bank regulations, it is legally possible to repatriate the principal amount to the bond owner's resident country. If I want to bring the principal amount to the UK via bank transfer, do I need to pay any tax or do I need to inform HMRC? If yes, could you please let me know the process on how to inform HMRC. Thanks - Masud

Hi

This will depend on whether this is seen as cashing in a bond which creates a chargeable event.

You may wish to check guidance here :

Gains on foreign life insurance policies (Self Assessment helpsheet HS321)

There are no income tax implications on the transfer or money from one account to another. 

Thankyou.

Regards.

Hello, I have received 25,000 GBP from as a gift from a family friend's UK account in 2019 (Cypriot living in the UK until recently) that was derived from my father selling some of his propertly in Cyprus, I am now about to buy a flat in the UK (2022) and not sure how to declare it. It is definitely a gift and can provide proof of sale in Cyprus. Will it also be taxed? I am a UK resident (pre-settled status) but a non-citizen. Thank you, 

Hi,
 

There are no income tax purposes on a gift of money unless the money generates interest in a bank account in which case the interest needs to be reported for income tax purposes in the year in which the interest accrued. You may wish to check with inheritance tax however for any inheritance tax implications : How Inheritance Tax works: thresholds, rules and allowances  . They can be contacted here  : Inheritance Tax: general enquiries  .

Thank you.

hello, been an expat all my career. recently retired. Planning a possible return to uk, to reside there for good. If i transfer £500,000 (my saved pension ) do I need to advise my UK bank & HMRC of any impending transfer. thanks

Hi, our family will move to UK from Hong Kong. We have transferred part of money to uk account and leave some money in Hong Kong. Q1) We transfer money from Hong Kong later. Is it required to pay any tax? Q2) My husband transferred his money from his hong kong account to my uk account. Is it required to pay any tax? For Q1 and 2, any declaration is needed to be done before the said transfer. Thank you

Hi HMRC, I was having some savings ($130K) in one of my Turkish bank accounts and I declared the same info during my application to the student visa in 2019. I have been residing in the UK since Sep 2019 and I spent the majority of the money during the university term and after my graduation (Sep2020), I was hired in the UK (Nov2020) and bought a flat in the UK with a mortgage (Apr2021). I transferred the remaining savings amount (£20K) to my UK bank account via SWIFT system in Feb 2022. Do I need to declare the £20K transfer to the HMRC and is there any tax obligation to me? Best regards Thanks,

Hi steve888richards,

There are no Income Tax implications on the transfer of money to the UK if this is capital from savings.

If the money generates any interest, however, and you are a UK resident, then this would need to be reported for Income Tax purposes.

You may wish to speak to your UK bank if you have one about the transfer. 

Thank you.

Hi Sha Sha,

There are no Income Tax implications on the gifting of money or basic transfer of money unless the money generates income in a bank account. The interest would then need to be reported for income tax purposes.

If however, you are already UK resident and have claimed the remittance basis on this money then it would need to be declared once brought into the UK. 

Thank you.

Hi Oguzhan Aydore,

If this is just a transfer of savings and the income itself has not been left in Turkey as the remittance basis has been claimed on it then there will be no Income Tax implications here unless the money generates some interest in the bank account at which point, the interest will be subject to IncomeTax. 

Thank you.

Dear HMRC team, Can you please advise if transfers of my personal savings from another country to my wife in the UK will be taxed and require additional declaration? We will both become UK tax residents in the next financial year. All these funds are interest-free in the UK. Thank you, 

Hi,

If you have savings income from another country you are required to declare this as foreign income on a Self Assessment tax return form.  

If you have already been taxed on the savings income abroad, you can claim Foreign Tax Credit Relief to avoid double taxation.

If you transfer this money to your wife she is not liable for tax (as you have already declared this) on the income unless it attracts her own interest on the funds.  

Thank you.

Hi HMRC Admin 19, Thanks for your answer and clarification. If the transfer of my personal savings from another country was made in the year when I was not a UK tax resident, is it subject to the declaration as foreign income? Thank you, Roman

Hi Roman Korshunov,

Only UK residents are required to declare foreign income to HMRC.
So if you were not resident in the UK when the savings transaction took place, no declaration to HMRC is required.

Thank you.

Dear Sir/Madam, I moved to the UK in September 2020. I am here with a Tier 2 Visa(will end in November 2023, but my company will extend it for 3 more years). I am a full time employee here since moving here. I am planning to buy a house here, but I need to bring my money from Turkey(around £50000). Some of this money is my savings, some part is my share from a land that my family sold some time ago(tax paid in Turkey). I am planning to transfer this money to my UK bank account via Swift. I am wondering if I need to pay any income tax because of this transaction? Could you please share your thoughts on this? Best regards, Guner

Hello, My father passed leaving behind money that I and my brothers will inherit overseas. I want to bring the money here to pay off my mortgage. It is about £500k. I just have three questions: 1) How much money can I bring to my UK account? 2) Do I have to pay tax on this inherited money for my mortgage? 3) Am I correct in saying that inheritance is free of tax or is that a one-off gift? Thank you.

Hi
 

Dear Guner, I can confirm that the movement of money from an overseas bank account to a UK bank account is a non-taxable transaction.

Thank you.

Hi
 

Nabil,   If you receive an inheritance from an estate that includes foreign assets, or if the deceased lived abroad, there may be UK Inheritance Tax  consequences. Please refer to the guide below for a detailed Inheritance Tax overview: How Inheritance Tax works: thresholds, rules and allowances  . Thank you.

Hello HMRC team, Above, you wrote that money movement from an overseas bank account to a UK bank account is a non-taxable transaction. However, it is mentioned on gov.uk that you may need to pay UK Income Tax on your foreign income, such as: - wages if you work abroad - foreign investment income, for example, dividends and savings interest - rental income on overseas property Could you please clarify, if possible, which transfers will be taxed and which will not? How to understand the distinction between the transfer of savings and income? Thank you, Roman

Hi,
 

Foreign income and gains are only taxed in the UK when they, or amounts ‘in respect of’ or amounts ‘representing’ those income or gains, are ‘remitted’ to the UK. If foreign income and gains remain offshore and are never regarded as remitted to the UK, the tax charge is effectively deferred indefinitely. RDRM31030 - Residence, Domicile and Remittance Basis Manual - HMRC internal manual - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). If the overseas account contains income or gains have arisen while t/p is resident in the UK there is a potential tax charge when the account is remitted to the UK. Thank you.