Moving abroad doesn't end your relationship with HMRC. Once you're non-resident, your foreign income and gains fall outside UK tax, but the UK keeps the right to tax most income that comes from the UK.
Knowing what counts as UK income, what the UK still taxes, and what you have to report each year is the foundation of any exit plan. Get it right and many expats pay little or no UK tax. Get it wrong and the bills, penalties and missed refunds build up quietly.
This guide goes through each type of income, the personal allowance, what changes in 2026/27 and 2027/28, and the forms you'll need.
Leaving the UK? Non-resident tax rules and HMRC obligations explained
How does the UK tax non-residents?
What changes when you become non-resident? The UK moves from taxing your worldwide income to taxing UK-source income only. Your residence is decided each tax year by the Statutory Residence Test, and in the year you leave, split-year treatment can divide the year into a UK part and an overseas part.
Image 1 — what stays in the UK net
In broad terms, once you're non-resident:
Still taxed in the UK: UK rental income, pay for UK workdays, UK trading profits and most UK pensions, unless a treaty moves the right to tax.
Usually no UK tax in practice: UK bank interest, UK dividends and the State Pension, through the disregarded income rules.
Still taxed on sale: gains on UK property and land.
Outside UK tax: foreign income, and gains on shares, funds and crypto, subject to the five-year rule.
👉 GOV.UK: Tax on your UK income if you live abroad
Employment income
Does your UK employer decide where you're taxed? No. Employment income is sourced where you physically do the work, not where your employer is based or where you're paid.
As a non-resident, only pay for days worked in the UK is taxable here. On a £100,000 salary with 20 of 200 working days in the UK, £10,000 is UK-taxable. If you're employed by an overseas company, a treaty may remove even that, provided you're in the UK for under 183 days and the cost isn't borne by a UK employer or branch.
Bonuses and share awards earned partly while you were UK resident can stay partly taxable after you leave. See our guide to working remotely abroad for a UK company.
Self-employment and business profits
What about freelancers and business owners? The UK taxes a non-resident's trading profits that arise in the UK:
A UK branch or permanent establishment: profits connected to it are taxable in the UK.
Work done in the UK: profits from work physically carried out here can be taxable, though a treaty often removes the charge without a UK permanent establishment.
No UK presence: if you work wholly overseas with no UK establishment, there's normally no UK tax on the profits.
If you run a UK limited company, the company's position is separate from yours. Dividends you take are covered below.
UK rental income
Is UK rent taxed after you leave? Yes, whatever your residence status. It's one of the most common reasons expats still file a UK return.
Under the non-resident landlord scheme, your letting agent, or your tenant if there's no agent and the rent is over £100 a week, must deduct basic rate tax from the rent. You can apply to receive it gross by registering on form NRL1, but you then file a Self Assessment return each year. See our guide to the non-resident landlord scheme.
From 6 April 2027, property income has its own rates of 22%, 42% and 47% in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, two points above the main rates.
👉 HMRC form NRL1: Receive UK rental income without tax deducted
Pensions
Who taxes your UK pension? The starting point is the UK, but treaties often change that:
Private and workplace pensions: many treaties give the right to tax to your country of residence only. HMRC then issues a no-tax code once a treaty claim is approved.
Government service pensions: civil service, military, NHS and teaching pensions are usually taxable only in the UK.
The State Pension: paid without tax deducted, and usually capped at nil UK tax through the disregarded income rules. Your new country may tax it.
See our guide to UK pensions when you live abroad.
Interest and dividends
Do you pay UK tax on UK savings and shares? Usually not. Under the disregarded income rules, UK tax on interest and dividends is capped at the tax deducted at source. UK banks and companies don't deduct tax, so the cap is usually nil.
The trade-off is that you lose your personal allowance for any year the disregarded basis gives the lower bill. HMRC works out both calculations and charges the lower, so if you also have UK rent, run the figures both ways.
Dividend rates rose to 10.75% and 35.75% from 6 April 2026, and savings rates rise by two points from 6 April 2027. Both widen the gap in favour of the disregarded basis for anyone with sizeable UK investment income.
👉 HM Treasury: Changes to tax rates for property, savings and dividend income
Do you keep the personal allowance?
Do non-residents lose the £12,570 allowance? Not automatically. You're entitled to it as a non-resident if:
You're a British citizen: or a citizen of an EEA country.
You've worked for the UK government: at any time during the tax year.
Your treaty gives it: some double tax treaties extend it to residents of the other country.
If you don't file a return, claim it with form R43 after the end of the tax year. The allowance is frozen at £12,570 until 2030/31.
👉 GOV.UK: Personal Allowance if you live abroad
Selling UK property
What if you sell a UK home or buy-to-let? Non-residents pay capital gains tax on UK property and land, generally only on growth since April 2015 for homes. You must report the sale and pay within 60 days of completion, even if there's no gain.
See our full guide to non-resident capital gains tax, including the 90-day rule for Private Residence Relief.
The five-year trap
Can you leave, cash in, and come back? Not quickly. If you were UK resident for at least 4 of the 7 tax years before leaving and return within five years, the temporary non-residence rules tax certain income and gains from your time abroad in the year you come back.
That includes gains on assets you owned before leaving, pension drawdown, and, for anyone returning from 6 April 2026, all dividends from your own close company.
Inheritance tax and National Insurance
Does leaving change your estate's exposure? Not immediately. Inheritance tax now depends on long-term residence. If you were UK resident for at least 10 of the previous 20 tax years, your worldwide estate stays in scope for up to 10 years after you leave, depending on how long you lived here. UK assets stay in scope regardless.
For your State Pension record, voluntary Class 2 contributions for time abroad ended from 6 April 2026, so Class 3 is now the main route. Check your record before you decide.
👉 GOV.UK: National Insurance if you go abroad
Compliance: the forms you'll need
What do you actually have to file? It depends on your income, but these are the main ones:
Image 2 — the forms you're likely to need
Form P85: tells HMRC you've left and reclaims PAYE overpaid in your year of departure, if you won't be filing Self Assessment.
Self Assessment with SA109: needed for UK rent, UK self-employment, taxable UK income or to claim split-year treatment. HMRC's free online service can't file SA109, so use commercial software or a paper return, due by 31 October.
Form NRL1: to receive UK rent without basic rate tax deducted.
Form DT-Individual: to have a UK pension or other UK income taxed under a treaty rather than UK rules.
Form R43: to claim the personal allowance and a repayment if you don't file a return.
UK property CGT return: within 60 days of completing any sale of UK property or land.
If you haven't left yet, see how we help people leaving the UK, and try our leaving the UK tax calculator to see where you'd stand.
See our guides to whether you need to file a UK tax return and HMRC forms for expats.
👉 HMRC form P85: Tell HMRC you're leaving the UK
👉 HMRC form DT-Individual: Double taxation treaty relief
👉 HMRC form SA109: Residence pages of the tax return
Frequently asked questions
Do I still pay UK tax if I move abroad?
Often yes, but only on some of your income. Once you are non-resident under the Statutory Residence Test, the UK generally stops taxing your foreign income and gains. It can still tax UK-source income, such as rent from UK property, some UK pensions and work you physically do in the UK, and you must report a sale of UK property within 60 days. In the year you leave, split-year treatment may apply, and a double tax treaty can decide which country taxes what.
Do non-residents pay tax on UK bank interest and dividends?
Usually not. The disregarded income rules cap UK tax on them at the tax deducted at source, which is normally nil. The cost is losing the personal allowance for that year.
Do I keep my UK personal allowance if I move abroad?
Yes, if you're a British or EEA citizen, have worked for the UK government during the year, or your treaty gives it. Claim it on your return or with form R43.
Is UK rental income taxed if I live abroad?
Yes. UK rent is taxable whatever your residence. Tax is deducted at source under the non-resident landlord scheme unless you register on form NRL1 to receive it gross and file a return.
Do non-residents need to file a UK tax return?
Often, yes. You need one for UK rent, UK self-employment or other taxable UK income, or to claim split-year treatment. You file with the SA109 residence pages, by paper or commercial software.
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