Certificate of Residence for tax purposes

Hi Simon

This would need to be taken up with the bank as they are the ones who have requested the completion of the form. 

Thankyou.

Regards.

Hello. I have been a resident in the UK and paid tax here since almost 10 years. I have requested the closure of my old bank account in France and my bank sent me a document called 'Affidavit of residence' that I need to return in order to avoid double taxation. UK tax authority also needs to also sign the document and declare that I am resident in the UK for tax purposes. From this page https://www.gov.uk/guidance/get-a-certificate-of-residence , it seems I should send the document to Pay As You Earn and Self Assessment, HM Revenue and Customs, BX9 1AS. Could you confirm this is the right procedure? And if yes: 1) how long can I expect for the document to be signed? 2) Do I need to attach any other document/letter? 3) Will it be sent back to my address and do I need to pay for the letter? It is very disappointing that no information can be found online.

Hi,
 

Yes this is the correct address. Post is dealt with in date order so will be processed as such. No other documents are required and there is no cost for this.  Thank you.

My partner is a Portuguese citizen who has worked as an employee and lived exclusively in the UK for five years, and who until last year received no income from outside the UK. The Portuguese tax authorities have decided she was a tax resident in Portugal for some of these years because her address on her Portuguese national ID card was not changed until 2019. They have demanded that she pay income taxes in Portugal on her UK income from that time (calculated based on the difference between UK and Portuguese rates). She applied for a Certificate of Residence and was provided only with a letter of confirmation, which, furthermore, only indicates the start date to which it applies (and not the period that follows). She will almost certainly now be forced to pay thousands of pounds in inapplicable income tax to the Portuguese authorities in the time it will take them to receive and reject the letter, and be coaxed into providing a formal written document of that rejection, likely written in Portuguese and possibly (?) requiring an accredited translation. Given this situation, what is the logic of making the provision of a Certificate of Residence conditional on receiving foreign income?

Hi, 

A certificate of residence exempts the tax from being paid in one country.

If both countries ask for this prior to the certificate being received, then the country requesting the certificate of residence should give credit for tax already paid to the other country. You may wish to speak to the Portuguese authorities regarding this. 

Thank you.

I believe it would. Unfortunately it has not been provided – only a letter of confirmation that repeatedly specifies it is *not* a Certificate of Residence – presumably for the reason specified in the reply higher up in this thread: "You can still apply for the certificate of residence. *We will not provide it if there is no foreign income*, but we can provide a letter of confirmation to show you are UK tax resident instead." When the poster explained that the Slovenian authorities did not accept the letter, the reply was as follows: "If Slovenia do not accept the letter of confirmation, you will need to provide us with written evidence from them advising this." Hence my question: why make foreign income a condition to provide a Certificate of Residence?

Hi, 

Solvenia should be accepting the letter of confirmation. This is why you will need to send evidence if they refuse so that HMRC can take this up with the relevant authorities for you.

The letters are required to allow for the double taxation treaties to be enforced. 

Thank you. 

If the letters are required for the double taxation treaties to be enforced, why do they specifically say they cannot be used to claim relief under the double taxation treaty? This is very confusing at the least.

Hi,
 

Please see guidance here reagrding letters of confirmation : INTM162140 - UK residents with foreign income or gains: certificates of residence: letter of confirmation

 
Thank you. 

Hi, What's the current turnaround time of these please? The online tracking used to say that my estimated date of completion was the 13th Dec, but when this date arrived this estaimate date was simply remove, and no other date has been given. The financial year in Portugal ends at the end of December, so I really need to know if I'm going to have this on time. Thanks

Hi,
 

The current timescale is 2 weeks for online requests, if you received the email confirmation of receipt and it's been longer than 2 weeks I would contact our taxes department. See link: Income Tax: general enquiries .

Thank you.
 

Hi I worked abroad for the last couple of months of the year and in order for the accountant of the company in Portugal to accept my invoice there's need to proof that I am a tax resident in the UK. I applied online for a Certificate of Residence and after quite a while I finally got a reply by email stating it wasn't possible to verify some of the information provided to identify myself and asking for me to request a certificate by letter. I have two questions: One - Will I get rejected again, this time by letter, due to this impossibility to verify some of my information or there is an actual difference from applying online with a form and sending the exact same form through post? Two - How long will this process last? The reason I ask this is because I cannot get my invoice accepted without a proof I pay my taxes in the UK. Also I would like to pay my Tax solely in the UK since it's my home, its only fair, and without this certificate I cannot avoid being double taxed. I am keen to understand why is this process so long - from sending the form, to getting an answer - and complicated when someone literally just want's to get paid and declare the amount to the Tax Office to be taxed fairly. Thank you for your time. Kind regards.

Hi Luis Filipe Eusebio,

The letter that you send in can be used to update any details that do not match as this will be signed by yourself.
Once the details are verified we can then look to issue the certificate of residence.
You can use your personal tax account to ensure we have all the correct details for you.
All post is then dealt with in date order and will be dealt with as quickly as possible.
If you do pay tax in Portugal due to the certificate not being recieved in time, when this income is reported to the UK then you can claim for foreign tax credit relief where credit can be given for the tax already paid so that you are not taxed twice on the same income. 

Thank you.

Hi, I am a self-employed UK resident (over 20 years). In the last few years, I have been consulting, from the UK, for a company based in India. I receive a consultancy retainer from India - which is paid into my UK business bank account. Indian side deducts 10.4% of the fee as tax over there. What comes through here is taxed as any other income I receive. My question is - is this correct? My accountant could not answer this question. I just would like some clarity on this double taxation. Thank you very much.

Hi Pawlaczka,

If you are working as self employled then the income would need to be declared as such and not as other income.
If you are not sure if you are self employed or not, please check guidance here;

Working for yourself
and
BIM20205 - Meaning of trade: badges of trade: summary

Thank you.

British Citizen. Certificate of Residence in UK - applied for this using the "email option" on HMRC website -on 18 Feb 2022. Never received email to acknowledge application and am still waiting for any confirmation of this. No updates or any communications received from HMRC. How do I know that this application has been received and when to expect this Certificate? Is there a telephone number that can be used for these enquiries? Ed

Hi,
 

HMRC are encoutering a large amount of email requests for Certificate of Residence letters and there is a backlog.  I would suggest re submiting your request by choosing our 'Online' option as oppose to 'Email'.  The online requests have an approximate 5 day turnaround. See link: How to apply for a certificate of residence to claim tax relief abroad    .

Thank you.

To whom it concerns. I'm working and living in the UK from October 2019. I want to request a certificate of residence in the UK to communicate it in Italy. The form to request the certificate requests a compulsory UK departure and leaving date, so if I specify a departure date and then don't leave, what happens? Looking forward to hearing from you. Many thanks

Hi Marco Jer,

Residence certificates cannot be issued for future dates so we would only be able to confirm up to the current date, at which point you will know whether you are still in the UK or not.
Please see link here to apply for a certificate of residence:
How to apply for a certificate of residence to claim tax relief abroad

Thank you.

Hi Has anyone actually received the certificate? how long did it take to arrive? I placed the request on April 21st, it's May 18th and I still haven't received anything. I'm desperate, I have to submit this by the 30th of May, otherwise I run the risk of paying a fine of 2000€. I have already called HMRC 3 times and they always say the same thing: it was sent on the 25th of April. I can't understand how in 2022 they still don't send these documents electronically. On my personal hmrc page there is no update, it just says that the request was made on April 21st. Anyone know how I can get this ASAP? Should I get on a plane and go to the UK in person to be able to get a piece of paper?