Canadian did not live or work in the UK for the last tax year

Hi there, I moved from the UK to Canada (I'm Canadian) in August 2020. Last year I filed my final tax return and thought all loose ends had been cleared up. However, I received an HMRC email that said "You had nothing to pay on your Self Assessment tax return last year. However, you still need to send us a return this year, even if you think you won’t have anything to pay." I tried to log on to the HMRC website but because I no longer have my UK number, I can't receive the access code to get in there and from what I've read it sounds complicated to get a hold of a real person to change it plus the cost of a long distance phone call. Do I still need to file a return even though I have not worked or lived in the UK since Aug 2020 and have no assets or property or anything tying me to the country other than an active bank account? Please advise what to do! Thank you.

Hi, I'm neither a tax professional nor Canadian but perhaps this can help you since the themes sound similar. The US IRS requires form 8802 declaring/verifying that I am now a US resident and also a UK form (UK form 2002 - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/850465/Form_US-individual_2002.pdf) requesting a non taxable (NT) status/code. It was not difficult but still slightly confusing. Once that went through, I did receive an updated tax code notice showing the NT status. Hope that is useful for you!

Hi Paula, thank you so much for your response. The info you shared was really helpful & I appreciate it! Dealing with this from so far away is v stressful / confusing. Thank you!

Hi 

Please refer to guidance at:

Check if you need to send a Self Assessment tax return

Please follow the checklist through to the end on how to contact us if you do not need to file.

Thank you.