From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

I note that UK Citizens who "moved" to Dubai to pay zero tax are now
facing the porspect of being required to leave (when it becomes possible)
due to the raised instability in the area.

Putting causes to one side, what would be the tax implications for
someone in such a position ? Presumably if they continue working for
their employer in the UK they would have to pay UK tax ?


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From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

In message <10o3l3b$39d08$3@dont-email.me>, at 09:26:03 on Mon, 2 Mar
2026, Jethro <jethro_UK@hotmailbin.com> remarked:

I note that UK Citizens who "moved" to Dubai to pay zero tax are now
facing the porspect of being required to leave (when it becomes possible)
due to the raised instability in the area.

Putting causes to one side, what would be the tax implications for
someone in such a position ? Presumably if they continue working for
their employer in the UK they would have to pay UK tax ?

My understanding is it's more about ex-pats who moved to Dubai to take
up positions as teachers, nurses etc, and who pay virtually no local
income tax, but can't come back to the UK for five years before UK tax
would be due on those offshore earnings.

You can't work for a UK employer in a school or hospital in Dubai,
because they are all locally owned.
--
Roland Perry

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From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

On 02/03/2026 09:26, Jethro wrote:

I note that UK Citizens who "moved" to Dubai to pay zero tax are now
facing the porspect of being required to leave (when it becomes possible)
due to the raised instability in the area.

Putting causes to one side, what would be the tax implications for
someone in such a position ? Presumably if they continue working for
their employer in the UK they would have to pay UK tax ?

My recollection from way back when I was an expat in Japan is that if
you have a contract of employment and a home in a foreign country then
you are able to spend only a limited amount of time per year in the UK
before you become liable to pay UK tax.

I think the normal limit was 60 days in any one tax year back then - it
may have changed. One of our engineers went on enough UK training
courses one year that the company had to send him to Paris each weekend towards the end of the tax year to stay under the limit.

These appear to be the current UK tax guidelines in digestible form:

https://www.saffery.com/insights/articles/statutory-residence-test/ https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/united-kingdom/individual/residence

HMRC version is considerably more opaque.

WWIII breaking out in the Middle East might possibly be considered "exceptional circumstances" by the UK Tax authorities. Time will tell.

What is the difference between a sneak attack and a pre-emptive strike? Especially when assassinating the leader of a sovereign nation.

Now Trump has his very own "special military operation". This was done
without even the fig leaf of a UN resolution as was obtained for Iraq.

I expect President Xi will want his turn next so Taiwan needs to be alert.

The preppers will inherit the earth...
--
Martin Brown


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From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

On 02/03/2026 11:02, Roland Perry wrote:

In message <10o3l3b$39d08$3@dont-email.me>, at 09:26:03 on Mon, 2 Mar
2026, Jethro <jethro_UK@hotmailbin.com> remarked:

I note that UK Citizens-a who "moved" to Dubai to pay zero tax are now
facing the porspect of being required to leave (when it becomes possible)
due to the raised instability in the area.

Putting causes to one side, what would be the tax implications for
someone in such a position ? Presumably if they continue working for
their employer in the UK they would have to pay UK tax ?

My understanding is it's more about ex-pats who moved to Dubai to take
up positions as teachers, nurses etc, and who pay virtually no local
income tax, but can't come back to the UK for five years before UK tax
would be due on those offshore earnings.

If they have an employment contract with a Dubai based company, have a
UAE working visa and live in Dubai why are they subject to different
rules to UK employees working for overseas offices of a UK company?

Is there some weird 5 year tax deal involved?

Like there was when working for a multinational corporation in Belgium
when we were a part of the EU (they wanted more European HQs of US
companies to be located in Belgium).

But that didn't prohibit return to the UK it merely meant that expats
became a lot more expensive after being seconded to Belgium for 5
years). After that period all local income taxes applied to UK expats
working in Belgium (the result was typically that you were moved back to
the UK or made redundant just before that threshold was reached).

You can't work for a UK employer in a school or hospital in Dubai,
because they are all locally owned.

I think I see now. It is the returning to the UK after less than 5 years overseas that leaves you potentially liable to paying UK capital gains tax.

https://www.gov.uk/tax-return-uk

It does not apply to wages earned overseas.
--
Martin Brown


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From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

On Mon, 02 Mar 2026 11:02:22 +0000, Roland Perry wrote:

In message <10o3l3b$39d08$3@dont-email.me>, at 09:26:03 on Mon, 2 Mar
2026, Jethro <jethro_UK@hotmailbin.com> remarked:

I note that UK Citizens who "moved" to Dubai to pay zero tax are now >>facing the porspect of being required to leave (when it becomes
possible)
due to the raised instability in the area.

Putting causes to one side, what would be the tax implications for
someone in such a position ? Presumably if they continue working for
their employer in the UK they would have to pay UK tax ?

My understanding is it's more about ex-pats who moved to Dubai to take
up positions as teachers, nurses etc, and who pay virtually no local
income tax, but can't come back to the UK for five years before UK tax
would be due on those offshore earnings.

You can't work for a UK employer in a school or hospital in Dubai,
because they are all locally owned.

Obviously it is a very fluid situation - and things could be changed in
the UK.

However *as things stand* if someone who was all setup to live and work
in Dubai, and who has been there (say) 3 years already is forced to
return due to FO advice, would they be faced with a bill for back tax ?

Ordinarily this would be of little interest to me. However in discussions
I have repeatedly been told how the UK is dead and that working abroad is
the only sensible thing to do. So a certain degree of schadenfreude is permitted.

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From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

On 02/03/2026 11:48 am, Martin Brown wrote:

On 02/03/2026 11:02, Roland Perry wrote:

In message <10o3l3b$39d08$3@dont-email.me>, at 09:26:03 on Mon, 2 Mar
2026, Jethro <jethro_UK@hotmailbin.com> remarked:

I note that UK Citizens-a who "moved" to Dubai to pay zero tax are now
facing the porspect of being required to leave (when it becomes
possible)
due to the raised instability in the area.

Putting causes to one side, what would be the tax implications for
someone in such a position ? Presumably if they continue working for
their employer in the UK they would have to pay UK tax ?

My understanding is it's more about ex-pats who moved to Dubai to take
up positions as teachers, nurses etc, and who pay virtually no local
income tax, but can't come back to the UK for five years before UK tax
would be due on those offshore earnings.

If they have an employment contract with a Dubai based company, have a
UAE working visa and live in Dubai why are they subject to different
rules to UK employees working for overseas offices of a UK company?

Because they don't work for an employer (self or third party) within the
UK economy.

It would be the same if they moved to work in the USA on an O visa and
worked for an American company; local tax rules apply and not some rule dreamed up by the UK Parliament. That means paying income tax to the
host government (plus, in the USA, the state) under the same rules as
anyone else there.

If in Dubai, the rate of income tax is zero (or if there simply isn't an income tax at all), that's what applies to anyone working for a local
company. That surely is hard to criticise?

Is there some weird 5 year tax deal involved?

That sounds like a rule unilaterally imposed by the UK.

Like there was when working for a multinational corporation in Belgium
when we were a part of the EU (they wanted more European HQs of US
companies to be located in Belgium).

But that didn't prohibit return to the UK it merely meant that expats
became a lot more expensive after being seconded to Belgium for 5
years). After that period all local income taxes applied to UK expats working in Belgium (the result was typically that you were moved back to
the UK or made redundant just before that threshold was reached).

You can't work for a UK employer in a school or hospital in Dubai,
because they are all locally owned.

I think I see now. It is the returning to the UK after less than 5 years overseas that leaves you potentially liable to paying UK capital gains tax.

https://www.gov.uk/tax-return-uk

It does not apply to wages earned overseas.

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