Dear HMRC,
I hold a USA passport, but have been granted permission to stay in the UK under the Graduate Visa until 12 Sep 2023.
For tax year 2021-22, I was a UK resident and self-employed. I successfully filed my first self-assessment accordingly. Very straightforward.
For tax year 2022-23, I earned income strictly overseas and earned for 0 hours, 0 days in the UK. I kept an apartment in the UK for the first 118 days, of which I physically spent 90 days in. During the other 28 days of this time period, I was in the USA: freelancing for two US companies for 16 days (3+ hours per day). I was not working for the rest of this trip.
I moved out of the UK to a new apartment in France on 2 Aug 2022, when I received a 6-month fixed-term, full-time work contract. This work contract started on 1 Sep 2022 and has been renewed twice now with no gaps in employment. I qualified as a French tax resident due to my work and residence status here, so I've already had to file taxes for the 2022 French tax year (Jan - Dec 2022).
Since moving to France, I have visited the UK for short trips for 10 days (4 days in October 2022, 3 days in January 2023, 3 days in March 2023).
I wasn't sure when I first left the UK whether the move would be permanent or not, but considering the expiration of my Graduate visa in Sep 2023 as well as my expectation to be permanently hired here in Jan 2024, I do not anticipate returning to the UK for the tax year 2023-24.
From what I can understand, I qualify for split year treatment (Case 3) and am to file a Self-Assessment online as I did the previous year to report my income in the US during the month of May 2022, but also SA109 2023, to report the change in my residency status from 2 Aug 2022.
Given the above circumstance, my questions on the SA109 2023 form for you are as follows:
1. Resident Status, Question 8: Do I need to list all days that I was not working 3+ hours during my self-employment time as gaps between employment (6 Apr - 9 May 2022, 29 May - 30 Aug 2022)? Or are there no gaps if the transition is between self-employment status and working for a corporation?
2. Resident Status, Question 12: Is the number of UK ties for my time in the UK (1 accommodation tie) or my time in France (0 ties)? For instance, during my UK residency I would only have the accomodation tie since I had a place for 118 days in the UK, but not the 90 day tie since I was in the UK for less than 91 days. After moving to France, I would have zero ties given I no longer had an apartment and spent 10 days visiting.
3. Resident Status, Question 14: Similarly, does the number of days I worked overseas apply only for my time in France or only for my time in the UK?
4. Personal Allowances, Questions 15-17: This does not seem to apply based on the SA109 2023 Notes PDF, correct?
5. Residence in other countries, Questions 18-22: I am a tax resident in France, but if this form only applies to my time in the UK, does this matter as they did not overlap? I assume you only need to know that I am being taxed for the freelance work in I did in the US (as I will be taxed in the US no matter my residence).
6. I am assuming the rest of this tax form does not apply, except for the 'Any other information' section in Question 40. Besides the circumstances I indicated above, is there any other information I should include here?
I will need to file in the UK before I can complete my US taxes for 2022 based on this information (which is also due in October), so any help that you could offer would be so appreciated!
Thank you and have a lovely day,
C.C.
