a question about residency

by **mkgarvey** on Sat Sep 03, 2011 5:52 am

i left the uk in 2001 to travel & at the same time recieved training for a new job & returned 6 months later...
i stayed in the uk for 1 month & then left in december for full time employment until the following december 2002.
After this i travelled again & managed to find a job in feb 2003 (full time) until nov 2003 when season finished.
i then travelled again & returned the following year feb2004-nov2004 to do the same job.
again i had a holiday & quickly found a new job dec2004 -mar2005 (fulltime) but it finished due to unforeseen circumstances.
at no point over this period did i return to the uk.
i travelled again & then got sick.
I was thus back in the UK from aug 2005-feb 2006 (so over the 183days).... so obviously would be resident here although didn't work during this period.
Again i returned to my previous job feb2006-nov2006 & then manged to get another fulltime job.
This is not seasonal. the contract is 6months, I then renew the contract & have a holiday for 1 month before returning to work & continuing the next 6 months & so on. this has been like this & stil lcontinues to be the case.
Since the new job I have returned to the uk although not at the end of every contract. so do not return more than 91 days each year.
I have not kept flight ticket stubs or anything like that but only have my passport of proof.
Apart from the new job I have no proof of employment or payslips.
now i read that in order to be classed as non uk resident the job must be one year fulltime & not just full time (say like 9months).
does this all mean i thought i was non resident & if fact actually are resident? this would be a nightmare...
i have no car, or house but do still have a bank account here in the uk.

by **thehiker99** on Mon Sep 05, 2011 5:12 am

mkgarvey.

Your's seems to be a quite a complex case, though I do have to say, that due to the fact that you don't seem to use capital letters, writing like a text message, you posting is hard to read. Huge block of text, just overwhelm.
Try using bullet points, paragraphs for each period, and capitals appropriately.

From what I can decipher, I doubt if HMRC would regard you as being in full time overseas employment for any complete tax year.
Some full time work seems to be interspersed with part time/seasonal work.

The fact that you say you have almost no payslips, or proof of employment, ie a contract, would also make it very difficult to convince HMRC that you were in full time overseas employment.

Not keping boarding passes and tickets, is a major error.

You don't say where you've been working, but if it's in Europe your passprot won't be any good, since it won't get stampled for travellign around Europe, or entering the UK.

Give us some more detail, in a clear concise form, and I may be able to help.

The Hiker.

by **mkgarvey** on Fri Sep 09, 2011 11:18 am

Thank you Hiker

Sorry if the last post was unclear

Here’s an employment outline.

I hope this is more clear?

April 2001-October 2001: Training in Thailand/Indonesia.

December 2001 – December 2002: Full time employment (payslips although tax paid isn’t shown, no written contract).

February 2003 – November 2003: Full time employment (no payslips, no written contract, but signed company headed letter stating when I worked for them, more like a reference ).

February 2004 – November 2004: Full time employment (same company as previous year, no payslips, no written contract, but signed company headed letter stating when I worked for them).

December 2004 – March 2005: Full time employment (no payslips, no written contract or if I did get them I cannot find).

August 2005 – February 2006: In UK due to illness.

February 2006 – November: 2006: Full time employment (same company as 2003/2004, no payslips, no written contract, but again a signed company headed letter stating when I worked for them).

November 2006 – Present: Full time employment (6month contract resigned immediately so work effectively continues over tax year, payslips).

After brief return in November 2001 did not return to the UK until 2005.

From 2006 have returned to the UK less than 91 days/year.

All jobs carried out in a variety of countries in Asia so entry/exit stamps in passport.

Between each period of employment I travel around S.E.Asia.

I hope this is this more concise?

by **maths** on Fri Sep 09, 2011 1:45 pm

Is the amount of your income for any tax year significantly in excess of you personal allowance?

If not the question as to residence is academic; if it is then clearly the issue is more important.

It certainly does not seem obvious that you lost UK residency.

by **Tax Champion** on Fri Sep 09, 2011 4:30 pm

From what you say, you did not set foot in the country at all from December 2001 to March 2005, so you would not be resident in the tax years 2002/3, 2003/04 or 2004/05, and if you were employed abroad full time (this refers to the amount of time working each week, not to the contract length) from February 2006, and did not spend more than 90 days in the UK in any tax year, there is no reason why you should be considered as resident.

There are proposals for a new residency test, but these have not yet been passed, and even then you would be unlikely to fall foul, unless your contact with the UK is more than appears from your posting. However you may need to restrict your visits in future to less than 45 days per year if your employment is not "full-time".

Even if you have remained UK resident, there might be no further tax due as you can claim credit in the UK for tax deducted overseas.

by **mkgarvey** on Fri Sep 09, 2011 5:57 pm

Thank you very much for both of your responses.
it is a little clearer.
look i'll be honest, but i should not have been working in the country in question from 2003/2004 & 2006
i was fighting for a work visa but they wouldn't give me one so in the end i left.
on a promise for proper work visa but it didn't come to pass.
does this have a bearing? also what is the personal allowance anyway?
i was on commmission only & so am uncertain of total income? but maybe i could guess roughly...
i know this is complicated & a really stupid thing to have done so there's no need to tell me i'm an idiot, i know...
what are the relevant consequences to this.
i've lived my life for so long via a backpack but just want to get things in order now i'm older...
thank you....