Form filling when you leave the UK to establish non UK residence (Form P85)

When you leave the UK, you'll probably be completing a form P85 for income tax purposes. This is the standard form that the Revenue will send out if you tell them you're leaving the UK,and you can also download it directly from the Revenue's website. They'll then use this form to make a preliminary assessment of your residence position. It's therefore important to ensure that you understand what the questions mean and how the information you provide will be interepreted. if necessary this then gives you the chance to restructure your affairs prior to the completion/departure. A good example of this is the question relating to having any UK accomodation. The Revenue are looking at this to assist in determining your residence status. If you have available accomodation in the UK, recent Commissioners decisions have clarified that this will be taken into account when assessing UK residence status (ie it's part of having an ongoing connection with the UK). If it's important to establish non UK residence you may want to consider selling or long leasing a UK property. Members can see more details on the completion of the form P85 here:step by step guide to completing the form P85. We've also included screen shots of the form to help illustrate the key points. We've also put together our first webcast on this here: Tax Webcast on completing a form P85 to establish non UK residence