Filing an expat tax return UK authorities will actually accept has become a genuinely confusing exercise this year. The old non-dom regime, a system that shaped British tax planning for more than two centuries, no longer exists. In its place sits a residence-based structure built around something called the Foreign Income and Gains regime, or FIG for short. If you moved to the UK recently, returned after years abroad, or simply held non-dom status before April 2025, the rules that applied to you last year may no longer apply now.
This shift hasn’t just tweaked a few thresholds. It has replaced the entire foundation of how HMRC decides who pays tax on money earned outside the UK. Thousands of expats are still trying to work out which category they fall into, whether they qualify for any transitional relief, and what deadline they’re actually working toward. This guide breaks down the practical side of the change so you can approach your filing with clarity rather than guesswork.
What Actually Happened to the Non-Dom Regime
The remittance-basis non-dom regime was scrapped from 6 April 2025. Under the old system, someone who was UK resident but domiciled elsewhere could shield foreign income and gains from British tax, as long as that money stayed offshore. Domicile, a concept tied loosely to where your father was born or where you intended to permanently settle, no longer decides your tax fate.
Residence is now the deciding factor. If you’re tax resident in the UK under the Statutory Residence Test, your worldwide income and gains are generally taxable here, full stop, unless you qualify for the new four-year exemption window. That’s a dramatically simpler test on paper, but it also removes a relief that tens of thousands of long-term UK residents had relied on for decades.
The Four-Year FIG Exemption Explained
The FIG regime gives genuinely new arrivals a limited but valuable break. If you’ve been non-UK resident for the ten consecutive tax years immediately before you arrive, you can claim exemption from UK tax on foreign income and gains for your first four tax years of residence. Unlike the old remittance basis, this exemption covers money you bring into the UK freely. You don’t need to keep funds parked offshore to avoid a tax charge.
A few details matter here that catch people out:
- You must actively claim the FIG regime for each tax year you want it to apply; it isn’t automatic.
- Claiming it means giving up your personal income tax allowance and your capital gains annual exempt amount for that year.
- Returning Britons qualify too, provided they’ve genuinely been non-resident for the full ten-year lookback period.
- The exemption applies only to income and gains arising after 6 April 2025, not to anything that arose earlier.
- Leaving the UK temporarily during your four-year window doesn’t necessarily forfeit the remaining years, though you won’t get a full four years of relief if you come and go.
Because eligibility hinges on a strict ten-year non-residence test, HMRC’s own projections suggest only a small fraction of former non-dom claimants will actually qualify going forward. Most long-settled non-doms simply don’t have a clean enough residence history to meet the bar.
Transitional Rules for Existing Non-Doms
If you already held non-dom status before the change, your situation depends heavily on when you first became UK resident. Someone who arrived a few years before April 2025 may still have some FIG years left to claim, calculated based on how long they’d already been resident. Someone who’s been resident longer than four years by that date generally has no FIG relief available and moves straight onto worldwide taxation from 6 April 2025.
For income and gains that built up before the reform, a Temporary Repatriation Facility lets former remittance-basis users bring old, previously unremitted foreign funds into the UK at a reduced tax rate rather than the standard income tax or capital gains rate. That rate sits at 12% for the 2025/26 and 2026/27 tax years before rising to 15% for 2027/28. Crucially, you don’t have to physically transfer the money into a UK account during this window to use the facility, which gives people more flexibility in how they plan the designation.
Inheritance tax has also moved onto a residence basis rather than domicile, which changes exposure for non-UK assets held by long-term residents. This is a separate calculation from income tax and gains, so don’t assume qualifying for FIG on income automatically protects your estate.
Who Should Pay Closest Attention Right Now
Certain groups are more exposed to confusion, or to a nasty surprise, than others:
- New arrivals who assumed non-dom status still existed and haven’t made a FIG claim for the relevant tax year.
- Long-term UK residents whose non-dom protection has quietly expired without them realising it.
- Trustees and settlors of offshore trusts, since protections for non-resident trusts changed alongside the personal rules.
- Anyone holding mixed offshore funds who could benefit from the relaxed ordering rules under the repatriation facility.
- Returning expats who lived abroad for close to, but not quite, ten years, since falling short by even one year disqualifies the FIG claim entirely.
Filing Deadlines You Can’t Afford to Miss
Standard UK self-assessment deadlines still apply regardless of your residence status. Paper returns are due by 31 October following the end of the tax year, while online returns and any balancing tax payment are due by 31 January. FIG claims and Temporary Repatriation Facility designations need to be made within your self-assessment return for the relevant tax year, so missing the filing window doesn’t just delay your paperwork, it can cost you the relief itself. Given how new these provisions are, it’s worth submitting earlier rather than right at the deadline, since HMRC’s guidance and digital forms are still catching up with the legislation in places.
Getting Professional Help Without Overpaying for It
Given how recently these rules took effect, even experienced accountants are still refining how they advise clients through the transition. Some smaller advisory outfits, including firms like Spice Taxation, have seen a sharp uptick in enquiries from expats trying to figure out whether they’re better off claiming FIG, using the repatriation facility, or restructuring where they hold assets altogether. If your financial situation involves offshore trusts, mixed funds, or overseas property, a one-off consultation is usually worth the cost before you file, rather than after HMRC has already assessed you.
Wrapping Up the New Reality for Expats
The abolition of non-dom status hasn’t simplified life for expats so much as reshuffled who benefits and who doesn’t. New arrivals with a clean ten-year non-residence history have a genuinely generous four-year window. Long-term residents and those who fall just short of the eligibility test face a much heavier tax burden than before. Whichever camp you’re in, the safest move is to work out your exact residence history, check what year of the FIG window you’re in if any, and file with that clarity rather than assuming the old non-dom rules still offer any protection. The system has changed permanently, and treating your filing as business as usual is the fastest way to end up paying more than you need to.
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