It’s easy for an expats heart to rule their head when planning to move to a home in a new country, but it’s important to sort out your finances and personal affairs in the UK before you go.
To help, here’s a checklist of some of the thinks you should consider before you go:
- Check if you state pension will be frozen at the rate of the first payment or index-linked
Britain has agreements to pay index-linked state pension payments with
Austria, Barbados, Belgium, Bermuda, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Jersey and Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Mauritius, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, The Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden. Switzerland, Turkey and the USA
- Seek independent financial advice about switching your personal or workplace pension into a tax-effective Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme (QROPS) up to six months before moving
- Tell HM Revenue and Customs that you are emigrating and sort out your final tax affairs in Britain before you go.
- Ask for any UK pension to be paid before tax is deducted so you can declare the income and pay tax in your new home. HMRC will only allow this if the country you are moving to has special taxation agreement with the UK.
Click here for HMRC’s list of double taxation treaties that are in force
- Consider taking out comprehensive medical insurance before leaving the UK – travel insurance only covers emergencies and looking for insurance once you are abroad could cost a lot more
- If you keep a home in the UK but rent it out, speak to HMRC about joining the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme so you can collect rents with having the tenant or letting agent deduct income tax
- Tell your bank, mortgage lender, credit card company, utility companies and other companies you have financial dealings with that you are leaving
- Set up a bank account in your destination home country for payments in from UK pensions, the state pension and any rents collected for letting your home. Watch currency exchange rates – you may want an offshore bank account to collect any payments in Sterling and then draw them down when local currency rates are advantageous rather than lose money.
- Consider a specialist international removals firm to shift your furniture and belongings across borders. If you do a DIY move, you probably won’t be insured if something is damaged. International removers will make sure everything is packed safely; hold it in storage until you are ready to have your belongings shipped overseas. They will also make all the arrangements, like customs clearance.
Try starting your search for an international removals company on the FIDI web site
