Here we go, it's no good leaving the UK...

[DimPrawn]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8519803.stm

Thousand of rich UK citizens living abroad as tax exiles may find they have to pay UK taxes after all.

The Court of Appeal has upheld the right of HM Revenue & Customs to tax a businessman, Robert Gaines-Cooper, who has lived in the Seychelles since 1976.

The judges said that he had never been exempt from UK taxes as a non-resident citizen.

Although he had abided by the rules not to spend more than 91 days here, he had still not cut his ties with the UK.

Mr Gaines-Cooper may now have to pay a tax bill of £30m, for the years from 1993 to 2004. [/B]

Retrospective and rather nasty.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Green

Tax avoidance

Taveta Investments, the company used to acquire Arcadia in 2002, is in the name of Green's wife, a Monaco resident, avoiding millions of pounds in tax that would be payable if a UK resident owned the company.[19] When Green paid his family £1.2bn in 2005, it was paid for by a loan taken out by Arcadia, cutting Arcadia's corporation tax as interest charges on the loan were offset against profits.[20] In comparison, staff at Arcadia were told in 2005 that members of its final salary pension scheme must increase contributions by half and work five years longer to qualify for the same payout.


And he gets a Knighthood.

[Mich the Tester]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8519803.stm



Retrospective and rather nasty.

The judges said that he had never been exempt from UK taxes as a non-resident citizen.
WTF?

[AtW]

Retrospective and rather nasty.

He appears to have visited UK for up to 90 days a year, this is hardly leaving it.

What are the ties of Mr Green to UK? Monaco more like it, but to be fair he should not have received knighthood if he does not pay taxes here.

[Mich the Tester]

He appears to have visited UK for up to 90 days a year, this is hardly leaving it.

"he had abided by the rules not to spend more than 91 days here"

[chef]

errr why?

if you don't live in the Uk and you pay taxes in a country with a double taxation treaty then you shouldn't have to pay Uk tax

[Mich the Tester]

errr why?

if you don't live in the Uk and you pay taxes in a country with a double taxation treaty then you shouldn't have to pay Uk tax

Indeed. Even if there isn't a double taxation treaty you shouldn't be subjected to taxation in a country where you don't live.

[AtW]

errr why?

if you don't live in the Uk and you pay taxes in a country with a double taxation treaty then you shouldn't have to pay Uk tax

AFAIK Double taxation law means that you will have to pay the difference in tax, if you are in 0% tax place but deemed taxable here you'd have to pay the difference between their tax and UK.

[AtW]

"he had abided by the rules not to spend more than 91 days here"

There are other rules than just this one. If he spent 90 days a year here then he clearly did not cut ties, that ain't 30 days vacation time.

[DimPrawn]

There are six million UK citizens living abroad.

If upheld, the effect of the ruling will be to expose thousands of the richest, who wish to be tax exiles, to unexpected retrospective tax bills, not just ones for future years.

"A lot of people think they are out of the UK tax system - they may now be caught," he argued.

The HMRC's new approach, which replaced IR20, was codified in new guidance on residency and non-residency - called HMRC 6 - which was published in April 2009.

So basically, if you were born here, you remain a UK taxpayer for life, no matter where you reside.

Gordon now has an extra six million wealthy taxpayers to fund his tax an spend plans!

[doodab]

AFAIK Double taxation law means that you will have to pay the difference in tax, if you are in 0% tax place but deemed taxable here you'd have to pay the difference between their tax and UK.

It depends on the treaty and the type of income. Sometimes you pay the difference in tax, sometimes you pay tax in the country you spend most time in, sometimes you pay tax where the income is earned.