Deemed Domicile Status

Even if your permanent home ('domicile') is outside the UK, you can be treated as being 'deemed domiciled' in the UK for tax purposes after you have been a UK resident for a long time.

Deemed domicile is a tax status that applies to long-term UK residents who are not UK domiciled. Once you become deemed domiciled, you are taxed in the same way as someone who is UK domiciled, meaning you lose access to certain tax advantages like the remittance basis.

How do you become deemed domiciled?

You will be treated as deemed domiciled in the UK if you have been a UK resident for at least 15 of the past 20 tax years.
Once you meet this condition, you become deemed domiciled from the start of your 16th tax year of residence.

What are the consequences?

Becoming deemed domiciled means:

  • You are subject to UK tax on your worldwide income and capital gains on an arising basis.
  • You can no longer use the remittance basis of taxation.
  • Your worldwide assets may become subject to UK Inheritance Tax (IHT).

It is a significant change in your UK tax position, designed to align the treatment of long-term residents with that of UK domiciliaries.

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