Self Employed Expat: Days in UK

Hello, I move around a lot in Latin America, work online as a self employed freelancer and am not resident for tax purposes anywhere - I have checked very carefully. I do receive rental income from my UK home. I am a British citizen. I'm looking to visit the UK for 40 days this summer for this tax year, some of which is to attend a conference and the rest to visit family. I understand that I would not be tax resident. However, I may work some days freelancing for US clients remotely while in the UK. How many days could I do so without causing tax implications in the UK. I understand there is something called UK income which is taxable, but I'm not sure if my consulting income would be such.

Hi,

The UK retains the right to tax your income from UK property, regardless of where in the world you are resident.  You are required to complete a Self Assessment Tax Return (SA100) every tax year, to declare the income from UK property (SA105) and to declare that you are not resident in the UK (SA109).  

As a UK national, you would be able to claim personal allowances on the SA109. The number of days that you can stay in the UK will depend on your particular circumstances.  

We cannot advise you of this, merely point you in the direction of the guidance at RDR3.

RDR3 Statutory Residence Test

You will need to review the guidance and take the statutory residence tests, to determine how many days you can return to the UK and remain non resident for tax purposes.  

It will also let you know whether your self employed freelance work undertaken, while in the UK, is taxable. If you are not already registered for self assessment, you can do so at

Check how to register for Self Assessment

You cannot use the HMRC online tax return, as you are not UK resident. You would need to submit paper tax returns, which can be found below or if you have a government gateway user ID and password or can vefify your identity to obtain this, you can then buy a commercial tax return and submit that return online.  

Self Assessment tax return forms

A list of commercial tax return providers can be found at:

Self Assessment tax return forms

You may also wish to consider contacting the let property campaign below, if you have let your UK property in previous tax years.

Let Property Campaign

Thank you.

Super, already reporting and paying on UK property rental income. The RDR3 link is exactly what I needed. I will be working less than 3 hours a day for the few weeks visiting the UK and haven't been UK tax resident for years. So the personal services income for a a few weeks while visiting the UK, won't be reportable or taxable, as far as I can tell.