P85 Question

[bcking 3,157]

My wife is wanting to fill out a P85 before she leaves, for tax purposes.

 

One of the questions are "Will you be working full time outside the UK?"

 

Should she answer "No" because she doesn't have a job right now, or "Yes" because she INTENDS to work full time. It isn't clear if it is asking intentions or reality.

 

Any ideas?

[Wuozopo 4,285]

Say yes if you want to be considered non-resident in the UK and get officially off their tax rolls.

[bcking 3,157]

Just now, Wuozopo said:

Say yes if you want to be considered non-resident in the UK and get officially off their tax rolls.

You can still be considered non-resident if you aren't working it seems. I went through the checklist on HMRC's website. The criteria is just different if you are working or not. I believe it was <16 days per year for the first 3 years makes you an "automatic non-resident", and if you stay in the UK between 16 and something >100 days (i forget the exact number) they look at how many "ties" you have. She would only have one, so should could technically go >90 days and still be non-resident.

 

If she checks "yes" do they request anything from her employer? Do they send her anything else?

If she checks "no" do they request anything else? The form also asks how many days she expects to go back to the UK, and honestly it probably won't be more than 2 weeks so she'll probably just put 15 each year. That would still make her an "automatic non-resident".

 

The form is just worried poorly. She expects by the end of the tax year she'll be employed, but she isn't at the time of filling out the form. The way it is written literally you would assume they mean right now, but they could also mean "within the tax year". She is going to try calling their "help line" tomorrow to see if they can actually "help".

[Wuozopo 4,285]

Working 35 hrs a week outside UK also makes you non-resident so it depends on if she wants to get it finalized and get a refund check if she's over-paid. That is her eventual plan. They don't ask for anything. I got a nice check. 

[bcking 3,157]

3 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

Working 35 hrs a week outside UK also makes you non-resident so it depends on if she wants to get it finalized and get a refund check if she's over-paid. That is her eventual plan. They don't ask for anything. I got a nice check. 

She hasn't been working in the UK since June, and hasn't been taking the job seeker allowance either (since she wasn't seeking a job). Not sure how that impacts the situation. She got a redundancy package in June which was taxed appropriately.

[Wuozopo 4,285]

Tell her to call them. They were very helpful to me on the phone.