UK Accountant for Non-Residents

The problem with being non-resident

Non-residents rarely get into trouble because they refused to pay UK tax. They get into trouble because nobody told them a UK obligation existed, and because the letters were going to an address they had left, an agent who had moved on, or a company registered office they had never seen.

The three most common versions we see: a non-resident who owns a UK company and did not know it still had to file accounts and a corporation tax return; a landlord who let a UK property and did not know about the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme; and an owner who sold UK property and did not know that a return and payment were due within a tight deadline of completion.

None of these is complicated once someone is actually looking at it. All of them are expensive if nobody is.

If you own a UK company

A UK limited company is taxed on its profits in the UK regardless of where its owner lives. There is no residence or nationality requirement to be a director or a shareholder — the company needs a UK registered office address, not a UK-resident owner.

What the company must still do:

• File annual accounts at Companies House
• File a corporation tax return with HMRC and pay any tax due
• Register for VAT where turnover requires it
• Operate PAYE if it employs anyone in the UK
• File a confirmation statement each year
• Complete Companies House identity verification

If you own UK property

UK property is where non-residents are exposed most, because three separate regimes apply and they stack.

• Stamp Duty Land Tax on purchase. Non-UK residents pay higher rates of SDLT on residential property in England and Northern Ireland. The test is a day-count test in the twelve months before purchase — not nationality, not visa status, and not the Statutory Residence Test. It applies on top of every other residential rate, and it can catch UK-resident companies that are controlled by non-residents. A refund route exists if you later meet the day-count test, but it is time-limited.
• The Non-Resident Landlord Scheme on rental income. If your usual place of abode is outside the UK, your letting agent — or, above a threshold, your tenant — must deduct basic-rate tax from your rental income and pay it quarterly to HMRC, unless HMRC has approved you to receive rent gross. Most non-resident landlords should be applying for that approval.
• Capital gains tax on disposal. Non-residents can be within the charge to UK tax on gains from UK property, with a reporting and payment obligation that runs from completion, not from the end of the tax year.

And if the property is held through an overseas company, foundation or trust, that entity must register on the Companies House Register of Overseas Entities and have its beneficial owners verified by a UK-regulated agent before it can sell, let or charge the property.

Double taxation — you should not pay twice

The UK has one of the widest tax treaty networks in the world, and relief is very rarely automatic. It has to be claimed, on the right article, under the treaty that is actually in force — which is not always the one people assume.

We see this constantly. Advisers citing the 1967 UK–Luxembourg convention, which is no longer in force. Advisers citing the 1969 UK–Austria treaty, removed by HMRC in October 2025. Advisers citing the 1968 UK–Portugal treaty, replaced by a new Convention in force since December 2025. Advisers describing San Marino as an information-exchange jurisdiction, when a full Double Taxation Convention has been in force since November 2023.

We check the position that applies to you, today, and claim on that basis.

See also: UK accountant for Dubai residents · Set up a UK company from abroad · Non-resident landlord tax

Frequently asked questions