Prior to 2018 I was a director in a small business, and as such I submitted my UK tax returns via Self Assessment - the taxes were always straight forward, so I always did them myself without concern.
That business was wound up in 2018.
In late 2019 I moved abroad to a country with a double taxation agreement, and I started a regular job with taxation at source in that country (legally, with the appropriate visas).
Since my move overseas, I have submitted my annual SA but as I never intended on staying overseas, I never declared myself non-resident via an SA109 form. Due to coronavirus, I have subsequently stayed overseas and now intend to live here permanently.
What are the implications of declaring my non-residency now, given the fact that the SA109 form asks about previous years? Given I need to answer these truthfully, it will be obvious that I have completed prior SAs stating I am tax resident in the UK, albeit with no UK tax applicable.
I will note that the rest of my Self Assessment is accurate -
- I have no UK income,
- I am taxed at source in my country of residence,
- that country has a taxation agreement with the UK,
- I paid an equivalent amount of tax in my current country as I would have in the UK,
- I have not transferred any of these earnings to the UK,
- all of the above is noted in plain english on my SA each year
How does the HMRC view situations such as this? Am I liable for any sort of penalty because I delayed declaring myself non-resident despite no tax due and no benefits gained?
