UK to Australia tax queries (disputed tax)

[Deanna01]

I am considering emmigrating to Australia from the UK, but need some guidance on a fairly complex tax issue before I start the process. If anyone could give me any guidance on where to find the right information, or even a basic opinion, it would be greatly appreciated.

Brief situation:

I have open UK tax years under enquiry from 2008/9-2013/14, because I used a self employment "loan" scheme. I have open enquiries under section 7a of the tax act for each year , but other than that I have never had any further correspondence from HMRC for any of these years. The scheme was non-DOTAS so I also do not have FNs or APNs for them. The loans are held in the Isle of Man. The alleged tax due on them is likely to be a six figure sum in GBP.

Current understanding is that I MAY have to 'tick a box' on my tax return for 2018/2019 to declare that these loans are outstanding, allowing HMRC to then 'tax' them in some way. However I know that the legislation is not fully released as yet and may not apply to sEBTs at all, only EBTs, so realise some guess-work may be needed in the following questions!

Questions:

If I have no income in the UK and am tax resident in Australia in 2018/19, will I be obliged to fill in a UK SA tax return at all?

Is there any requirement to disclose outstanding loans (held in the IOM) on an Australian tax return?

Assuming I did still have to declare any outstanding loans to the UK HMRC, and they decided to 'tax' them in some way, would the Australian government force me to pay the UK HMRC on their terms, or would they allow me to set up some sort of repayment schedule? (Anecdotally I have heard that this is often an option as the AUS government is not keen on bankrupting its own permanent residents to pay another country tax that is disputed, hence the question.)

I dispute the 'tax' is owed, as the law has been changed retrospectively, and HMRC have failed to present me with any form of bill over a significant period of time. Would these arguments help me under Australian law at all?

[AmanSood]

from the point at which you leave the UK, you will most likely become non-UK tax resident so the UK HMRC an only tax you on UK sourced income. You would still be liable to any UK tax potentially due on the loans whilst you were UK tax resident but after you leave there shouldn't be a need to pay any further tax/declare these to HMRC. Caveat of course is you are not considered temporary non-resident.

Aman
Tax advisor
www.e-taxconsulting.com