Tax on the transfer of capital on a move to the UK

Anyone looking to move to the UK, may well have significant overseas capital that they wish to transfer to the UK. If this is overseas cash that has been acquired prior to UK residence, the capital can be transferred to the UK with no UK tax implications. If there is overseas property that needs to be sold, before the cash proceeds can be transferred, a disposal after you are UK resident would result in a Capital Gain arising for tax purposes. The gain charged would be the entire capital gain since the date of acquisition and not the date of your arrival in the UK. As such if there are overseas assets held prior to your arrival in the UK, it is advisable to consider transferring these to a controlled trust, company or close friends/family. This would then ensure that any gain that did arise on a future disposal was the much lower gain arising since the date of the transfer. Note though that if you are a Non UK Domiciliary by bringing capital to the UK, this will then form part of your UK estate and as such would be within the scope of inheritance tax. If however the capital was retained overseas it would be excluded from UK inheritance tax.