2 September 2026 – written by Steffen Kemmerzehl – Friendly Assist Accountancy – The Accounting Hub
Moving abroad for work does not always mean leaving your UK employer. You might be an engineer sent to Germany, work remotely from Dubai, transfer to an Australian office or take a new job in South Africa while your old UK payroll continues for a while.
This can produce a confusing result: you are living and working abroad, but UK PAYE is still disappearing from your salary. Sometimes that is correct, but sometimes your final UK tax position can be very different from what appears on your payslip.
Your P60 isn’t always the final answer
The first question is usually whether you remain UK tax resident. The Statutory Residence Test considers your days in Britain, work pattern and connections with the UK. If you leave during a tax year, split-year treatment can also become important.
For example, an engineer who leaves Newcastle in June to start a three-year job in Germany may have a very different position from someone who spends eight months working remotely from Spain but regularly returns home and continues working during those visits.
If the conditions are met, some overseas employment earnings may fall outside the final UK Income Tax calculation even though they appear on a UK P60. Simply copying the P60 into a tax return therefore does not always tell the whole story for someone working internationally.
Different countries can produce surprisingly different results
There is no worldwide rule saying that spending 183 days abroad makes your salary tax-free. The UK applies its own residence rules, while the country you move to has its own rules as well.
Dubai is a good example. The UAE generally does not impose personal income tax on ordinary employment salaries, but that does not automatically make your salary tax-free in the UK. Your UK residence position still matters.
Germany is different again. German tax can become relevant when you work there, and in some situations it matters which business economically bears the cost of your employment rather than simply which company sends the payslip.
Kenya shows why the famous 183-day rule can also be misleading. Its residence rules can involve a permanent home and patterns of presence over several years. The United States adds another layer, with federal and potentially state taxation, while US citizens generally remain within the US worldwide tax system even while living abroad.
The country matters, but there is rarely a useful answer based solely on counting to 183.
Paid tax in two countries?
Suppose a software developer moves to France and both French tax and UK PAYE are taken from the salary. It looks like straightforward double taxation, but there can be two quite different explanations.
If part of the salary ultimately falls outside UK taxation, the answer may be to calculate the correct UK liability and recover excessive PAYE. If the same income genuinely remains taxable in both countries, Double Taxation Relief may instead become relevant. Foreign tax paid is not simply deducted from whatever PAYE happens to appear on the UK payslip.
A bonus can belong to more than one country
Imagine a sales director who works in Manchester until July, moves to Canada and receives a £40,000 annual performance bonus the following February. The fact that the money arrived while living in Canada does not necessarily mean the entire bonus relates to Canadian work.
You may need to establish what period and duties produced the payment. The same issue can arise with commission, retention awards, share schemes and deferred bonuses. With internationally mobile employees, when money was paid and what it was earned for can be two different questions.
Ten days in Britain can mean two different things
Imagine two people who have moved to the UAE and each return to Britain for ten days. One attends a wedding and visits family. The other spends five of those days working from their employer’s Birmingham office.
Their UK day counts may look identical, but their tax positions need not be. UK workdays can matter separately from simply being physically present here, which is why keeping a basic travel and work diary can be surprisingly useful.
Income Tax can change while National Insurance continues
Income Tax and National Insurance do not always move together. Someone temporarily posted abroad can potentially have a different UK Income Tax position while UK National Insurance legitimately continues.
The destination matters because different social-security arrangements can apply between countries. Student Loans are separate again, so receiving an Income Tax refund does not automatically mean National Insurance or Student Loan deductions should also be refunded.
We will look at both of these areas separately, as the rules can be quite different from the Income Tax rules.
Don’t forget other income
Employment may be the main issue, but the final UK tax calculation can also be affected by other income you receive during the year. Savings, investments, pensions or other UK and overseas income can all potentially need consideration depending on your circumstances.
This is another reason why a PAYE refund should normally be based on your overall tax position rather than simply adding together the deductions taken after the date you left Britain.
Sometimes there are three countries, not two
International careers are not always a simple move from the UK to one country and back again. Someone might leave Britain for Japan, move to Australia eighteen months later and eventually return to the UK. Another person might live in Switzerland while regularly performing work in France.
In those situations, building a timeline is often more useful than starting with the P60. We need to know where you lived, where you actually worked, when you visited Britain and what income arose during each period.
What should you keep?
Keep your overseas employment or secondment agreement, payslips, P60 or P45, foreign tax assessments and evidence of foreign tax paid. It is also worth recording your travel dates and any days on which you actually worked during visits to Britain.
If you receive a substantial bonus, commission or share award around the time of your move, keep the document explaining what it relates to. That small piece of paperwork can become surprisingly important when the tax position is worked out later.
Still paying UK tax after moving abroad?
Remaining on a UK payroll does not automatically mean your whole salary remains taxable here. Equally, getting on a plane and working overseas does not automatically end UK taxation.
At Friendly Assist Accountancy, we help people moving to and from the UK with the Statutory Residence Test, split-year treatment, overseas employment income and Self Assessment.
If you are working abroad but your UK payroll has carried on exactly as before, it may be worth checking whether the tax being deducted still reflects your actual circumstances.
Steffen Kemmerzehl
I am a qualified AAT accountant in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Please get in touch if you’re interested in arranging an appointment.