"Expats face £400 million tax raid"

[Kay]

Here's an article in the Telegraph which claims that expat couples could be up to £4,000 worse off p/a if legislation goes through to deprive them of offsetting house rents in the UK against their personal allowances.

Given that it's the Telegraph, it should be no surprise that they've taken an alarmist stance and described it as "Expats face £400 million tax raid".

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/pers ... -raid.html

It's suggested in the article that expats should consider selling their UK rental properties and invest in overseas property or shares.

Additionally, they suggest that some expat retirees will have to return home as their planned retirement strategy goes up in smoke.

It doesn't affect us so it's not something I've looked into too deeply. Does it affect you? Any comments?

[Dave]

It's not just about house rents, important though those may be to some wealthier expats. Apparently the proposal is to withdraw the £10,000 personal allowance from anyone who doesn't have a "strong economic connection" to the UK, whatever that means. So if I'm reading it correctly, under the new proposal anyone who doesn't have a strong economic connection and receives income in the UK is liable to be taxed on it in future, even if it's less than £10,000 a year.