Moving to the UK: tax steps for new arrivals

Q: What do you need to register for?

National Insurance number. GOV.UK says you can only apply once you are in the UK, it can take up to 4 weeks, and you can start work before it arrives if you can prove your right to work. If you have a biometric residence permit or eVisa you may already have one. PAYE with your employer. You will not have a P45, so your employer needs your starter declaration. For seconded employees, HMRC's guidance sets the code by how long you intend to live here: 1257L on a cumulative basis if 183 days or more, 1257L week 1/month 1 if less (unless you are an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen), and 0T week 1/month 1 if you give no information before your first payday. Self Assessment. A FIG claim or OWR election can only be made in a return. If you need a return for a tax year and have not sent one before, you must register by 5 October after that year ends; for 2025 to 2026 the deadline was 5 October 2026.

Q: What can you do before you arrive?

Time the move. Because the first year of residence starts the four year clock even when it is split, arriving late in a tax year can use up a FIG year on a few weeks of residence. Arriving at or near the start of a tax year makes the most of it. Sell foreign assets while non resident. GOV.UK says non residents do not normally pay UK tax on selling assets other than UK property. A gain realised before you become resident needs no FIG claim, so it does not cost a personal allowance. Think about buying a home. Buying residential property in England or Northern Ireland while non resident for Stamp Duty Land Tax purposes adds a 2% surcharge. It can be refunded if you are later present for at least 183 days in a continuous 365 day period within HMRC's window, by amending the return within 2 years. Know the inheritance tax clock. Since 6 April 2025 you become a long term UK resident, with worldwide assets in scope, after 10 consecutive years of UK residence or 10 of the previous 20. See long term residence and inheritance tax. Check dual residence. If your old country still treats you as resident, the treaty tie breaker may decide which country can tax what.

Q: What does a typical arrival look like?

Illustration only. Mateo has never lived in the UK. He is offered a full time UK job from 1 February 2027 and owns foreign shares with a large gain and a foreign rental flat. Starting on 1 February 2027 would make him UK resident for 2026 to 2027 under the full time work test. Case 5 would split the year, but 2026 to 2027 would still be year one of his four FIG years. Instead he agrees a 6 April 2027 start. His FIG years become 2027 to 2028 through 2030 to 2031. He sells the shares in March 2027 while non resident, so no UK capital gains tax arises and no claim is needed. He gets his National Insurance number after arriving, gives his employer a starter declaration and registers for Self Assessment so that he can claim FIG relief on the rent if that beats keeping his personal allowance.

Someone coming to live in the UK should work out from which tax year they become UK resident under the statutory residence test, whether that first year is split, and whether they qualify for the four year foreign income and gains (FIG) regime. They then need a National Insurance number, the right PAYE set up with their employer and, if they want FIG relief or Overseas Workday Relief, a Self Assessment registration by 5 October after the first tax year ends. Some of the best savings come from decisions made before the move.

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From when are you UK resident?

UK residence is decided tax year by tax year (6 April to 5 April) under the statutory residence test. GOV.UK summarises it: you are resident only if you meet an automatic UK test or the sufficient ties test and do not meet any automatic overseas test. For a new arrival the key points are:

The 46 day rule. If you were not UK resident in any of the previous three tax years, you are automatically non resident if you spend fewer than 46 days here in the year.
The automatic UK tests. You are resident if you spend 183 days or more here, if your only home is in the UK for 91 days or more in a row and you spend at least 30 days in it during the year, or if you work full time in the UK for a 365 day period that includes at least one day of the year.
Sufficient ties. Between those limits, the number of UK ties you need depends on your days here.

The full time work test reaches back: starting a full time UK job in February can make you resident for the tax year that ends in April.

Will your first year be split?

Residence applies to the whole year, but HMRC’s Residence and FIG Regime Manual (RFIG21030) lists five arrival cases that split it into an overseas part and a UK part: starting to have a home in the UK only (Case 4), starting full time work in the UK (Case 5), ceasing full time work overseas (Case 6), being the partner of someone who does so (Case 7) and starting to have a home in the UK (Case 8). Each requires you to have been non resident in the previous tax year, and Cases 4 and 5 also require that you did not have sufficient UK ties before the split date, using reduced day limits (RFIG21150, RFIG21170).

Split year treatment is not optional: if you meet the conditions it applies (RFIG21010). Where more than one case fits, priority rules pick the case and the date. Split year treatment explains each case.

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Can you use the four year FIG regime?

From 6 April 2025 all UK residents are taxed on worldwide income and gains as they arise. HMRC’s helpsheet HS266 explains that a “qualifying new resident”, someone in one of their first four years of UK residence after at least ten consecutive tax years of non residence, can claim relief on foreign income and gains for each of those years. Relieved income can be brought to the UK with no further tax. Domicile and nationality are irrelevant.

Three practical rules shape the decision:

Claims are year by year. You claim on the residence pages (SA109 box 28 for income, box 29 for gains) and the relevant supplementary pages, by the first anniversary of the 31 January filing date. Unused years cannot be rolled forward.
A claim has a price. In any year you claim you lose your personal allowance and capital gains tax annual exempt amount, and you cannot use foreign losses or foreign tax credit on the relieved income.
The clock runs from your first year of residence, split or not. RFIG44000 treats a split year as a full year of UK residence, and ignores treaty non residence, when counting the four years.

If you work partly abroad, Overseas Workday Relief can relieve earnings for overseas workdays in the same qualifying years, capped at the lower of 30% of the qualifying employment income and £300,000 a year, and it needs its own election in your return. The FIG regime page covers the claim mechanics.

What do you need to register for?

National Insurance number. GOV.UK says you can only apply once you are in the UK, it can take up to 4 weeks, and you can start work before it arrives if you can prove your right to work. If you have a biometric residence permit or eVisa you may already have one.
PAYE with your employer. You will not have a P45, so your employer needs your starter declaration. For seconded employees, HMRC’s guidance sets the code by how long you intend to live here: 1257L on a cumulative basis if 183 days or more, 1257L week 1/month 1 if less (unless you are an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen), and 0T week 1/month 1 if you give no information before your first payday.
Self Assessment. A FIG claim or OWR election can only be made in a return. If you need a return for a tax year and have not sent one before, you must register by 5 October after that year ends; for 2025 to 2026 the deadline was 5 October 2026.

Will you pay UK National Insurance?

Not always straight away. HMRC’s guidance for employers says an employee holding a Portable Document A1 from the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland, or a certificate from a country with which the UK has a social security agreement, does not pay UK contributions for the period covered. Someone sent here by a foreign employer from any other country, who is not ordinarily resident and keeps working for that employer, is exempt for the first 52 weeks. See A1 certificates and social security abroad.

What can you do before you arrive?

Time the move. Because the first year of residence starts the four year clock even when it is split, arriving late in a tax year can use up a FIG year on a few weeks of residence. Arriving at or near the start of a tax year makes the most of it.
Sell foreign assets while non resident. GOV.UK says non residents do not normally pay UK tax on selling assets other than UK property. A gain realised before you become resident needs no FIG claim, so it does not cost a personal allowance.
Think about buying a home. Buying residential property in England or Northern Ireland while non resident for Stamp Duty Land Tax purposes adds a 2% surcharge. It can be refunded if you are later present for at least 183 days in a continuous 365 day period within HMRC’s window, by amending the return within 2 years.
Know the inheritance tax clock. Since 6 April 2025 you become a long term UK resident, with worldwide assets in scope, after 10 consecutive years of UK residence or 10 of the previous 20. See long term residence and inheritance tax.
Check dual residence. If your old country still treats you as resident, the treaty tie breaker may decide which country can tax what.

What does a typical arrival look like?

Illustration only. Mateo has never lived in the UK. He is offered a full time UK job from 1 February 2027 and owns foreign shares with a large gain and a foreign rental flat.

Starting on 1 February 2027 would make him UK resident for 2026 to 2027 under the full time work test. Case 5 would split the year, but 2026 to 2027 would still be year one of his four FIG years.
Instead he agrees a 6 April 2027 start. His FIG years become 2027 to 2028 through 2030 to 2031.
He sells the shares in March 2027 while non resident, so no UK capital gains tax arises and no claim is needed.
He gets his National Insurance number after arriving, gives his employer a starter declaration and registers for Self Assessment so that he can claim FIG relief on the rent if that beats keeping his personal allowance.

What are the common mistakes?

Assuming a short first stay cannot make you resident, when the full time work and only home tests can.
Thinking a split year does not count towards the four FIG years.
Claiming FIG relief on small foreign income and losing a personal allowance worth more.
Missing the 5 October registration deadline, which risks a failure to notify penalty.
Forgetting that after the four years end, foreign income and gains are taxed as they arise whether or not the money comes to the UK.

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Reviewed by Christine Anderson, Broker, Solar Protect. Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Part of Accountapedia, the Solar Protect guide to UK tax and accounting. This page is general information, not personalised advice.