Foreign Workers Exemption

Hi, I applied for Self-Assessment as I thought I needed to do so to qualify for the Foreign Workers Exemption. I was employed in South Africa from when I arrived in the UK in May 2022 until December 2022. I have been employed in the UK since August 2022. I earned less than £10 000 in South Africa, was taxed on it in South Africa, and only transferred £3641 of my South African employment income to the UK. My understanding now is that I did not need to apply for Self-Assessment at all. My question is, how should I proceed? Should I file a Self-Assessment return and include this information at the end? Thanks

Hi,

To qualify for the foreign workers exemption, all of the following have to apply:                            

• your income from your overseas job is less than £10,000
• your other foreign income (such as bank interest) is less than £100
• all your foreign income has been subject to foreign tax (even if you did not have to pay, for example because of a tax-free allowance)
• your combined UK and foreign income is within the band for basic rate Income Tax you do not need to fill in a tax return for any other reason

You can see more information here: 

Tax on foreign income

Thank you.


 

Thank you for this information. I fulfil all these criteria. Given that I erroneously applied for self-assessment (as one does not need to complete self-assessment to qualify for the exemption), should I give this information on my return? Thanks

Hi Ryan White,
If you do not need to complete a Self Assessment Tax return, you should contact our Self Assessment webchat facility.  
They will be able to withdraw the tax return, so that you do not need to complete it.  
They can be contacted here:
Self Assessment: general enquiries
Thank you.