International

International lifestyles and mobility

The world is a much more open place than it was even 10 years ago, with people moving from country to country for a variety of personal or business reasons.

We often see business exits as a time when individuals reassess their priorities, perhaps looking for a change in lifestyle, or there could be other underlying economic, political or fiscal reasons for families to relocate to another country.

It is now very common for our UK based clients to own a holiday home or other property abroad, to have foreign business interests and hold assets in overseas structures.

With the landscape of further education changing, younger generations now have more opportunity to study abroad giving them a broader global outlook and increasing the likelihood of younger generations living, working and investing outside of the UK.

Tax and legal advice for international situations

Introducing an international element into an individual’s personal and financial affairs brings with it many tax and legal challenges. Our Chartered Tax Advisors and Solicitors are recognised specialists in this area.

We advise individuals and families on moving to or from the UK, the extent of their exposure to UK taxes as a result of this and what planning they should consider.

Our private client team can provide guidance on the tax and legal consequences of owning property abroad as well as the implications of holding assets through offshore trust and company structures, including providing tax and legal advice to offshore trustees.

Likewise, we provide tax and legal advice to non-UK resident individuals and trustees on owning property situated in the UK.

Our tax team is also well placed to manage or support enquiries by the HMRC into offshore and international tax issues.

We can help draft and structure Wills which consider international aspects and deal with international estate administration and cases of cross-border probate.

International tax planning

Central to the tax treatment of an individual in the UK is their residence and domicile status for tax purposes.  We are specialists in providing tax advice on residence and domicile issues and have many years of practical experience in this area.

Domicile is an area of taxation which has changed considerably in the last decade or so and is due to change again under proposals put forward in 2024.  We can assist individuals affected by these changes in understanding the consequences for them and how they may wish to restructure their affairs as a result.

Moving to and from the UK requires many tax issues to be considered and sensible planning well in advance of relocation is advised.

Where foreign situated assets are owned by a UK resident individual, such as land or property, it is normally necessary to consider the tax regimes of both the territory in which the asset is situated as well as the UK.  To complete the tax analysis, it will often be necessary to consider any relevant double tax treaties which exist to help avoid or mitigate instances of double taxation.

We also help non-UK resident individuals and trustees who own property situated in the UK to understand their UK tax obligations and consider how best to structure their financial interests.

Tax and legal advice for offshore trustees

Our team works with offshore trustees and associated professionals in relation to both tax and UK legal issues.

We can review offshore trust and company structures to ensure that they are fully understood from a UK tax perspective and are fully UK tax compliant. Our advice can include the UK tax reporting requirements of settlors, trustees and beneficiaries.

We also review offshore structures for planning reasons, including whether the structure should be left as it is, restructured, imported to the UK or even broken. This is particularly important for some structures in view of the planned changes to the taxation of non-domiciled individuals and trusts established by them.

We have considerable experience with offshore Employee Benefit Trusts (EBT’s) and related remuneration structures.

Should an enquiry from HMRC be made into an offshore structure, our specialists can work with the trustees to help resolve the situation.

Our team of Solicitors can also provide advice on the legal duties and obligations of trustees under applicable UK law and/or trust deeds. This might include assisting with changing the governing law of the trust, including issues such as ensuring perpetuity periods under different jurisdictions are not breached, the necessary legal documentation to import or export trusts, facilitating a change of trustees and ensuring a complete chain of trusteeship and indemnity provisions.

Tax compliance for international interests

Our tax compliance team has extensive experience in the disclosure of international interests to HMRC and dealing with the reporting of one-off transactions e.g. the sale of UK land by a non-resident.

We also have a specialism in dealing with HMRC enquiries involving international issues, particularly in light of increased efforts by governments to reduce tax avoidance and evasion.

With governments keen to cut down on tax evasion and avoidance there is a growing network of international agreements aimed at enabling the enforcement of local tax rules to help stop tax evasion.

To support this, information is gathered from banking and investment institutions around the world with information being exchanged between governments.  HMRC is one body which uses the information it obtains to target those they suspect may not be fulfilling their UK tax obligations.

Common scenarios which might impact individuals with international interests include instances where a UK resident individual with a bank account abroad fails to disclose interest from that account to HMRC or pay any tax due in the UK (subject to any available reliefs, allowances and credits).

Similarly, confusion can occur in cases where real estate is owned abroad. It is not uncommon for taxpayers to believe they have fulfilled their tax obligations if they pay tax locally on rents received e.g. Spanish tax on a property located in Spain.  However, for a UK resident individual, it will also generally be necessary to disclose foreign rents received to the UK tax authorities.

Meridian’s tax specialists have extensive experience in this complex area.

International legal advice

Our team is experienced in dealing with different international legal systems and succession rules, advising on how the processes interact, assisting with making the necessary arrangements to apply for, or reseal, grants or certificates of succession in different countries, and the relevant reporting and administrative duties of executors both in the UK and overseas.

Estate and succession planning for international affairs

For individuals with assets abroad, it’s important to consider the correct structure of Wills to either govern the succession of assets sited in other jurisdictions or to ensure that several Wills dealing with different jurisdictions work in conjunction with each other.  This includes determining if a UK Will to deal with other jurisdictions is more appropriate than individual Wills for specific jurisdictions.

We have extensive expertise of this process, structuring Wills to take advantage of double tax treaty reliefs, examples of which include the UK/India Treaty which gives taxing rights to India (even where an individual is deemed domiciled in the UK) introducing interesting tax planning opportunities for individuals.

The tax and succession rules of other countries, including those with forced heirship provisions, can impact decision making and we routinely liaise with advisers in relevant jurisdictions to ensure our clients are fully informed and alternative options properly considered.  This might be particularly relevant where local advice might be in favour of leaving assets in that jurisdiction to children instead of a surviving spouse, but doing so might give rise to inheritance tax implications in the UK.

Wills and domicile

The inheritance tax position of individuals is currently driven largely by their domicile status.

As part of the Will writing process, we are qualified to identify the issues that arise where one spouse is UK domiciled and the other is non-UK domiciled.  This can include considering an election for UK domicile status, exemptions for inheritance tax purposes and lifetime planning strategies such as the use of what are termed excluded property trusts.

The proposed changes to the tax treatment of individuals who are currently non-UK domiciled potentially mean that the imposition of inheritance tax switches to a residence based system.  However, this is likely to bring similar considerations into play for individuals and families who are moving to and from the UK on a long-term basis and we can help those individuals understand their position under the new proposals and to plan accordingly.

Cross-border estate administration

We are highly experienced in administering complex cross-border estates with assets located throughout the world and can provide advice on the very specific issues and HMRC reporting requirements that arise for those who die non-UK domiciled but with assets sited in the UK, as well as UK domiciled individuals with assets abroad.