Moving from the UK to the UAE: the tax checklist, before and after you go

Most people plan the flights, the visa and the flat. Fewer plan how their UK tax position actually ends. The good news is that for someone taking a job in the UAE, the rules are usually favourable and fairly clear, provided you manage your days in the UK and tell the right people at the right time. This guide follows the order in which things happen: how UK residence is decided, what happens in the year you leave, what to do with your accounts, pensions and property, and what the UAE side looks like.

How UK tax residence is decided

You do not become non resident because you say so, or because you hold a UAE visa. UK residence is decided separately for each tax year, which runs from 6 April to 5 April, using the statutory residence test. The test has three layers, and you work through them in order.

1. The automatic overseas tests

If you meet any one of these, you are non resident for that year and nothing else matters.

• First test. You were UK resident in at least one of the previous three tax years, and you spend fewer than 16 days in the UK in the year.
• Second test. You were not UK resident in any of the previous three tax years, and you spend fewer than 46 days in the UK.
• Third test, full time work overseas. You work full time overseas for the year, spend fewer than 91 days in the UK, work in the UK on fewer than 31 days (a work day means more than three hours), and have no significant break from overseas work. A significant break is 31 or more days in a row without a day of more than three hours of overseas work, with annual, sick and parental leave days ignored.

For most people moving to a UAE employer, the third test is the one that matters. It rewards a clean break from UK work, so the first months of an assignment deserve care.

2. The automatic UK tests

If no overseas test applies, you check whether you are automatically resident. You are if you spend 183 or more days in the UK, if you have a UK home available for a run of 91 days and you are present there for at least 30 days in the year (with no overseas home, or with fewer than 30 days spent in your overseas home), or if you work full time in the UK over a 365 day period with more than 75% of your working days in the UK. The home test catches people who keep a UK house always ready for them.

3. Sufficient ties

If neither set of automatic tests settles it, you count your UK days against your UK ties. The ties are family, accommodation, work, a 90 day tie, and, for people who were resident in one of the previous three years, a country tie. For someone who was UK resident in at least one of the three preceding years, the number of ties that makes you resident is: at least four ties for 16 to 45 days, at least three for 46 to 90 days, at least two for 91 to 120 days, and at least one above 120 days. If you were not resident in any of the three previous years, the thresholds are higher: all four ties for 46 to 90 days, three for 91 to 120, two above.

Keep a day count diary and the evidence behind it, such as boarding passes and work calendars.

The year you leave: split year, P85 and a worked example

Your move will almost never fall neatly on 5 April. Where you leave part way through a tax year and meet the conditions, split year treatment lets you treat the year as two parts: a UK part, taxed as a resident, and an overseas part, treated as non resident. HMRC sets out several cases. The three that apply to people leaving are:

• Case 1, starting full time work overseas. The year splits on the day your overseas work starts. You need to have been UK resident in the previous year and to meet the full time overseas work conditions for the rest of that tax year.
• Case 2, the partner of someone in Case 1. You join your partner overseas and the year splits on the later of the day you join them and the day their overseas part begins.
• Case 3, ceasing to have a home in the UK. The year splits on the day you stop having a UK home, provided among other conditions that you spend no more than 15 days in the UK in the overseas part and, within six months, you are tax resident in another country, or present in one foreign country throughout, or have your only home or homes in one country.

Each case has further conditions in HMRC's manual, so treat this as orientation only.

Form P85 and getting tax back

If you were taxed through payroll in the UK part of your last year, you may have overpaid, because the personal allowance under PAYE is spread across the year and a part year worker has not used it all. Form P85 tells HMRC you have left and can lead to a refund. It is generally suited to people who do not need to file a Self Assessment return for the year, are eligible for split year treatment and expect no UK income abroad. If HMRC has asked you to file a return, or you will need to, use the return instead. Refunds from a P85 have been paid by sterling cheque, so keep an address that works or a UK bank account that can receive it.

If you may have UK tax to pay for the year you leave, for example from rent, you file a Self Assessment return including the residence pages. Paper returns for a tax year are due by 31 October after the year end, and HMRC expects you to tell it by 5 October if you have taxable income for a year and have not been asked to file.

Before you go and after you arrive: a timeline

1. Three to six months before. Decide your likely status using the tests above, check which split year case could apply, and plan your UK days for the first three tax years.
2. Two months before. List every UK account, investment, pension and policy, and ask providers what they require from non residents. Tell payroll your last UK pay date.
3. Before you fly. Decide what happens to your home: sale, let or kept empty. If you will let it, set up the non resident landlord approval described below. Keep a UK bank account open if you expect refunds or UK income.
4. On leaving. Record your departure date and the date any UK home stops being available to you.
5. Within weeks of arrival. Submit P85 if it suits you, tell pension providers and banks you are abroad, and complete the UAE steps: residence visa, Emirates ID and a local bank account.
6. By the following 5 October and 31 January. Tell HMRC if you have taxable UK income, and file the return and pay any tax by the deadline.

Bank accounts, ISAs, investments and UK property

Bank accounts and savings

Banks have not been taking tax off savings interest at source for some years, so UK interest is generally reported through Self Assessment where it is taxable. As a non resident your UK interest may still be taxable in the UK, but the UK and UAE treaty and your personal allowance can matter. Tell each bank your new address and country. Some UK banks restrict accounts for non residents, so ask now.

ISAs and Premium Bonds

Once you stop being UK resident you cannot pay into an ISA, and you should tell your provider as soon as you leave. You can keep the ISA, and it keeps its UK tax advantages. You can also transfer it to another provider while abroad. If you return and become UK resident again, you can resume paying in within the annual allowance. The rule turns on being resident when you subscribe, so check the timing of any final subscription with your provider. NS&I says overseas residents may be able to hold Premium Bonds, subject to local law, with purchases needing a UK debit card, so confirm the current terms.

Investments and capital gains

Non residents generally do not pay UK Capital Gains Tax on selling assets, with the major exception of UK property and land. That is the reason for a rule people forget: the temporary non residence rules. If you were UK resident for at least four of the seven tax years before you left, and you return within five years, certain gains and income arising while you were away can be taxed in the year you come back. HMRC's list includes flexible drawdown withdrawals, some pension lump sums, close company distributions and gains on certain life policies. Build the five year period into any plan to realise large gains or take large pension payments.

UK property

If you let your home, the rent is taxable in the UK even though you are abroad. Under the non resident landlord scheme, the letting agent, or the tenant if there is no agent, deducts basic rate income tax from the rent and pays it to HMRC. A tenant paying directly does not need to deduct if the rent is below £100 a week. You can apply to HMRC to receive rent with nothing deducted, which does not remove the tax: you still report the income and pay through Self Assessment. The scheme applies if your usual home is outside the UK, which in practice means being away for more than six months, so it is separate from the residence test.

If you sell, non residents must report and pay Capital Gains Tax on UK residential property within 60 days of completion, even where there is no tax to pay. Your UK property also stays inside the scope of UK inheritance tax whatever your residence.

Pensions, the State Pension and National Insurance

Private pensions

UK pension providers normally deduct UK income tax from payments under PAYE, using the tax code HMRC gives them. If you live abroad you may be able to ask HMRC for a code that allows payment without UK tax deducted, where the treaty gives taxing rights to your country of residence. A summary of the UK and UAE treaty states that pension income, other than government service pensions, is taxable in the state of residence, which is why some UAE residents ask for payments gross. Confirm this against the current treaty text and HMRC's process before acting, and note the temporary non residence point above. Transfers, tax free cash and the pensions inheritance tax change from April 2027 are covered in our guide on keeping or moving a UK pension.

State Pension and voluntary contributions

The new State Pension needs 35 qualifying years for the full amount and at least 10 to receive anything. Until recently, many expats filled gaps cheaply with voluntary Class 2 contributions. GOV.UK states that voluntary Class 2 contributions for periods abroad ended on 6 April 2026. For 2026 to 2027 onwards the route is voluntary Class 3, and secondary reports say the eligibility test has tightened to ten years of residence or contributions and the weekly cost has risen sharply. Treat those two details as things to verify. If you applied for Class 2 by 5 April 2026, transitional rules apply, with deadlines of 5 April 2027 in the cases GOV.UK lists.

Request a State Pension forecast before you leave. See our guide to the State Pension in the UAE for the point that, according to the government's current list, a UAE based pension is normally not increased each year.

The UAE side

The UAE gives residence through a visa, normally sponsored by an employer or a free zone, and an Emirates ID. UAE tax residence is a separate matter again.

• Personal income tax. The UAE does not tax salary or personal investment income. The Federal Tax Authority states that wages, personal investment income and real estate investment income are not treated as business activity for corporate tax.
• Corporate tax for some individuals. A natural person who runs a business in the UAE is subject to corporate tax if turnover from the business exceeds AED 1 million in a calendar year. The headline rate is 0% on the first AED 375,000 of profit and 9% above that, which you should confirm for your own case.
• Tax residency certificate. The Federal Tax Authority issues certificates to individuals. The Cabinet Decision on tax residence uses a usual place of residence test, plus day counts of 183 days, or 90 days if you also hold a residence permit and a permanent home. The authority's own service page has referred to a 180 day minimum, so check the current requirements. The certificate matters if you want to rely on a treaty, because HMRC and UK providers will ask for evidence of residence.
• Golden Visa. The government portal lists categories including investors (with a minimum capital of AED 2 million), entrepreneurs, exceptional talent and others, with durations of five or ten years. It is a residence route, not a tax status, and does not change your UK residence test.

Common mistakes

• Assuming a visa ends UK residence. Only the tests do, and only for the years in which you meet them.
• Keeping a UK home available. A house you can use and visit often, without a clear overseas home, can trigger the home test even with a low day count.
• Taking large gains or pension payments in the first years away. The five year temporary non residence rule can bring them back into the year you return.
• Forgetting the 60 day property report. The penalty and interest arrive even when there is no tax.
• Not telling providers. Missed ISA notifications, old addresses and unclaimed refunds are avoidable.

Questions to ask

• Which residence test do I meet in my first tax year away, and which in the next two?
• Does split year treatment apply to me, and which case?
• Should I file a P85 or a Self Assessment return for the year I leave?
• What will I do with my UK home, and what are the tax consequences of letting it or selling it?
• Which UK pensions have guarantees, and how will I be taxed on any payments?
• Is it worth paying voluntary National Insurance, and under which class?
• What happens if I return to the UK within five years?

What to do next

1. Write down your planned move date, work arrangement and expected UK visits for the next three years.
2. Run the residence test on that plan and note which test you rely on.
3. Request your State Pension forecast and list every UK account, pension and property.
4. Decide on the house, then set up the landlord scheme or the sale timetable.
5. Get tax advice from a UK qualified adviser who understands residence and the UAE before you leave, not afterwards.

Tax, 13 minute read. Last reviewed October 2026. Applies to: UK and UAE. General information, not personal advice.