Can you keep running your UK limited company after you move abroad? Yes. Nothing stops a non-UK resident from being a director or shareholder of a UK company, and plenty of consultants and business owners do exactly that.
This guide focuses on your personal tax as the owner: income tax on a salary, income tax on dividends, and capital gains tax when you sell or close the company. The answer to each depends mainly on one thing.
The key question is simple. Are you UK resident or non-resident in the tax year you take the money out?
If you're not sure, start with our Statutory Residence Test 101, because everything below turns on it.
Image 1 — how what you take out is taxed
A note on company residence
Does the company's status change when you move? Under UK law, a company incorporated in the UK is always UK resident. But if you run it from overseas, and all the key decisions are made there, the country you live in may also treat the company as resident where it's managed. The company can then be resident in two places at once.
That's a company-level question rather than a personal one, and it's worth getting advice on if you'll be the only director making decisions from abroad.
👉 HMRC manual: central management and control (INTM120060)
Taking a salary: income tax
How is a director's salary taxed once you've moved? It depends on your residence and on where you actually do the work.
UK resident: your whole salary is taxable in the UK, wherever you do the work.
Non-resident: the UK only taxes the salary for duties you perform in the UK. Days you work in the UK, including attending board meetings here, stay taxable. Salary for work done abroad is outside UK income tax.
The year you leave: if split-year treatment applies, salary for work in the overseas part of the year is treated as a non-resident's.
Where you work partly in the UK and partly abroad, the salary is normally apportioned by workdays. Keep a diary of where you worked each day.
👉 HMRC manual: section 27 ITEPA 2003, UK duties of non-resident employees (EIM40110)
Your company will usually keep running PAYE on your salary until HMRC agrees an NT code or a reduced code. Any excess tax is reclaimed through a Self Assessment return. See our P85 form guide and working remotely abroad for a UK company.
UK and EEA nationals keep the UK personal allowance while non-resident, so a small UK-taxable salary may be covered by the allowance.
Taking dividends: income tax
How are dividends from your own company taxed? Again, residence is what decides it.
UK resident: dividends above the £500 dividend allowance are taxed at 10.75%, 35.75% or 39.35% in 2026/27, depending on your income.
Non-resident: UK dividends are "disregarded income". No tax is deducted at source, so the effective UK tax is usually nil.
Image 2 — the same dividend, resident and non-resident
HMRC works out a non-resident's tax both with and without the disregarded income rules, and charges the lower amount. If you have other UK income, such as a UK salary or rent, check both calculations. See our guide to disregarded income.
👉 HMRC guidance: Tax on your UK income if you live abroad
Two timing traps
The year you leave: dividends paid in the UK-resident part of the year are taxed as normal. When you declare them relative to your departure date matters. See split-year treatment.
Coming back within five years: most owner-managed companies are "close companies". Dividends paid while you're away, out of profits built up before you left, can be taxed in the year you return. See the temporary non-residence rules.
Selling or closing the company: capital gains tax
What happens when you sell your shares or wind the company up? A sale of your shares, or a capital distribution when the company is closed through a members' voluntary liquidation, is a disposal for capital gains tax.
If you're UK resident when you dispose of the shares
Capital gains tax applies at 18% or 24%, depending on your income, after the £3,000 annual exempt amount.
Business Asset Disposal Relief can reduce the rate to 18% from 6 April 2026, on up to £1 million of lifetime gains. You generally need to have held at least 5% of the shares and been an officer or employee of a trading company for two years. Being a director who lives abroad doesn't stop you qualifying.
Closing the company through a members' voluntary liquidation usually means the final distribution is taxed as a capital gain rather than a dividend, subject to anti-avoidance rules if you start a similar business soon after.
👉 HMRC guidance: Business Asset Disposal Relief
If you're non-resident when you dispose of the shares
Most non-residents aren't liable to UK capital gains tax on shares, including shares in their own UK company. There are two main exceptions:
Property-rich companies: if 75% or more of the company's value comes from UK land and property, the gain is taxable in the UK even for a non-resident. See non-resident capital gains tax.
The five-year rule: if you sell or liquidate shares you already held when you left, and you return to the UK within about five years, the gain can be taxed in the year you come back.
For an exit, the timing of your move, the sale and any return to the UK all need to be planned together. Our capital gains tax advice service covers this.
Checklist before you move
Confirm your residence position for the year you leave and the years after.
Plan your salary around where you'll work, and keep a workday diary.
Time your dividends relative to your departure date and any possible return.
Record what profits built up before you left. It matters if you come back within five years.
Plan any sale or closure around your residence, Business Asset Disposal Relief and the five-year rule.
Think about where decisions are made, if you'll be running the company alone from abroad.
Frequently asked questions
Can a non-UK resident be a director of a UK limited company?
Yes. There's no residence requirement for directors or shareholders of a UK company. Your personal tax then depends on whether you're UK resident in each tax year.
Is my director's salary taxable in the UK if I live abroad?
If you're non-resident, only the salary for work you do in the UK is taxable here, including UK board meetings. Salary for work done abroad is outside UK income tax. If you're UK resident, all of it is taxable.
Do I pay UK tax on dividends from my UK company if I live abroad?
Usually not in practice. Dividends are disregarded income for non-residents, and no tax is deducted at source, so the effective UK liability is normally nil. The five-year rule can tax them if you return.
Do I pay capital gains tax if I sell my UK company after moving abroad?
Generally not, if you're non-resident when you sell. The exceptions are companies that get most of their value from UK property, and shares you held when you left if you return to the UK within about five years.
Can moving abroad change where my company is tax resident?
It can. A UK company is always UK resident under UK law, but if it's managed from another country, that country may also treat it as resident there.
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