Expats must declare any property abroad to the tax office.The UK tax office has set up an investigative task-force to track down expats who haven’t declared overseas property. The team will “mine” publicly available online information to discover people who own land or houses abroad.
The UK tax authority (HMRC) has put together a team of 200 investigators. Their first task will be in look into owners of overseas property. They will focus on those who have failed to declare any rental income or capital gains.
Are you familiar with all the services included in your credit card?The advantages of getting a credit card go beyond paying with a piece of plastic instead of cash. As an expat, you should also check the additional services that go along with many cards.
Imagine you are skiing in a foreign country. While descending the most vertiginous mountain something goes wrong. Even before you realize it, you are rolling down the hill. Minutes later you are being evacuated by helicopter.
Expats need to check their tax situation to avoid double taxation.As Albert Einstein said, filing tax returns is “too difficult for a mathematician. It takes a philosopher.” When you move countries, you should check whether double taxation could be a problem for you. If there are overlapping tax years, you might be in for a nasty surprise.
What is double taxation?
ATMs can lead to a financial nightmare if they've been tampered with.All too often expats prove easy targets for financial fraud. They stand out in the crowd and are often much wealthier than locals. A perfect example is a recent spate of fraud cases in Thailand, where numerous wealthy expats have lost thousands of dollars to financial criminals.
The Phuket Gazette reported the expats were targeted by a mix of con men and hacked ATMs able to steal account information–a worrying trend for any expat paradise.
The website China Briefing has provided expats with a useful income tax primer, courtesy of financial consultants Dezan Shira & Associates.China continues forging ahead with tax reforms, raising the hackles of expats all over the country. The new social insurance tax, for example, is devouring 48% of some expats’ salaries, without providing much in the way of added benefits.
Hence we read this income tax primer from China Briefing with great interest. It’s a handy (and fairly comprehensive) guide to China’s individual income tax (or IIT).
A weak euro is allowing Brits to snap up French property at a 10% discount.Pounds sterling are currently hovering at about EUR 1.20–the best rate they’ve seen since the summer of 2010 (and before that, December 2008).
This has created some property bargains. Because of the favorable rates, French property can now be had for 10% less.
According to data from Offshoreonline.org (which helps source euro mortgages for UK buyers) the pound has risen from EUR 1.10 to EUR 1.20 in the last 6 months. Buyers can therefore look forward to lower upfront purchasing costs, higher rental yields and ultimately higher real yields.
Expats could lose Guernsey as a QROPS destination.Guernsey is being unfairly targeted by UK taxmen and the press, claims Peter Niven, Chief Executive of Guernsey Finance. The Channel Island is fighting to preserve its QROPS business and reputation in the face of a new law intended to cut down on pension abuses.
In a statement, Niven accused Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) of blindsiding the jurisdiction, and the media of unfairly singling out Guernsey in its coverage.
For your sanity's sake some financial issues are best sorted BEFORE you move abroad.Moving your finances abroad is stressful, and many expats forget to ask the most important question: what do I need to do before I move and what can be done later?
Our checklist helps you identify urgent actions–and will save you money, time and hassle in the long run.
Saudi officials want to keep expat funds from flying out of the country, but businessmen think it's a bad idea.Saudi Arabia has turned heads recently with a proposed cap on expat money transfers. Expats send the majority of their money out of the country, which officials say hurts the non-oil economy and keeps local unemployment high.
The proposed transfer limit has sparked heated discussion not only among expats, but also Saudi businessmen and officials. The Saudi Gazette presented the opposing views in a recent piece.
The US has imposed steep penalties on expats who fail to report their overseas assets.2011 is drawing to a close and with it the tax year. In keeping with the seasonal spirit, the US government has given expats an early Christmas present: a revised Form 8938.
The new form is an integral part of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), designed to punish tax cheats with overseas assets. But it could also hurt wealthy expats who fail to properly report overseas assets.