We all know it is important to declare income we receive in the UK personally via a self assessment tax return. But what about other income you may receive outside the UK?

What is foreign income?

Foreign income is any income from outside England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

What falls under the banner of foreign income? This can include:

Wages received for work completed outside the UK
Any income you may receive from foreign investments, such as dividends and savings interest
Rental income from overseas property
Income from pensions held outside the UK
Any income from the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man is also classed as foreign income

If you have any of the above foreign income to declare and you are resident in the UK, you need to advise HMRC of this income in the foreign income section of your self assessment tax return even if you have paid tax on the income abroad.

Am I classed as a UK resident?

For tax purposes, your residency status is determined by the rules of the Statutory Residence Test.
If you have already paid tax on the income in another country, you may not have to pay tax twice.
However, it is important to declare the foreign income in your annual self assessment tax return anyway, and if applicable you can Foreign Tax Credit Relief to confirm you have already paid tax on the foreign income abroad.

When do I need to declare foreign income?

You need to declare any foreign income received personally on your self assessment tax return.

The tax year ends each year on 5th April. After this date, if you are not registered already for self assessment with HMRC here and you can do this online by the deadline of 5th October.

You must then submit your return online by midnight on the following 31 January.

If you have sent a tax return before, but haven’t submitted one recently, you can still use your existing self assessment Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) and re-register online.

Can I declare foreign income for previous tax years?

You can declare foreign income from previous tax years using HMRC’s Worldwide Disclosure Facility.

Help to declare foreign income

As a chartered tax and chartered accountancy practice, we can help you check your residency status and advise what foreign income you need to declare. We can also help complete your self assessment tax returns to declare all income you receive.

Complimentary 30 minute consultation