Bringing money earned while living abroad back to the UK

I'm a British citizen. I have some money (not a large amount) that I earned while living and working in the EU for a few years. This money is currently in an EU bank account. I moved back to the UK permanently in 2021. I am planning to transfer this money to a UK account and close the EU account. Before leaving the UK in 2017, and after returning in 2021, I was resident in the UK. During my time abroad, I paid income tax in the countries in which I was living and working. I did not work in the UK during this time, and my permanent home was in the EU. I believe that as I have already paid income tax on this income in the relevant countries, and as I was living abroad, I will not be liable to pay income tax in the UK on this income. However, I realise that I may need to inform HMRC that I am transferring the money so they can check that it has already been taxed properly in the relevant country. Do I need to provide further details to HMRC about this? If so, how should I do this?

Hi John Smith,
As this was income, earned in tax years you were not resident in the UK, then when you bring it to the UK, it is considered capital and will not be taxable.  
Any interest or dividends, the capital generate, will be taxable and should be declared.
Thank you.

Similar query. I have money saved whilst working abroad in the middle east. I return to the UK later this year. Am I correct to assume that all interest generated after my return date is income, but the principal is capital, so when I bring that back to UK it does not get taxed.

Hi,

Yes, that is correct.

Thank you.