Part 3 of 4
This is the Finance Act 2020 version of this article. It is relevant for candidates sitting the ATX-UK exam in the period 1 June 2021 to 31 March 2022. Candidates sitting ATX-UK after 31 March 2022 should refer to the Finance Act 2021 version of this article (to be published on the ACCA website in 2022).
So far in this article we have looked at residence and domicile and the taxation of overseas investment and trading income and employment income. We are now going to look at the remittance basis.
The remittance basis
A UK resident individual who is neither domiciled nor deemed domiciled in the UK may choose to be taxed on overseas income and chargeable gains on the remittance basis. In some circumstances, the remittance basis is automatic.
Under the remittance basis, amounts are subject to UK tax only if they are brought into the UK. For example, an individual with overseas bank interest would not be liable to UK IT on that interest if he could show that it has not been brought into the UK. This could be achieved by, for example, showing that it has not been removed from the overseas bank account.
A remittance is regarded as having been made where money or other property derived from offshore income/gains is brought into the UK.
Individuals who qualify for the remittance basis can choose each tax year whether or not to pay tax on the remittance basis.
Figure 5 illustrates the remittance basis divided into three stages. It is useful to think of the rules in stages as it avoids confusion and enables the issues to be addressed in a logical order.
- It is first necessary to consider the residence status of the individual in order to determine whether or not the overseas income is subject to UK tax.
- The second issue is whether the remittance basis is available.
- Finally, if the remittance basis is available, the need to pay the remittance basis charge (RBC) must be considered.
Figure 5 – The remittance basis