UK income abroad: rent, pensions and savings

You can leave the UK, but your UK income doesn't leave with you: HMRC usually keeps the right to tax it.

The short version

Non-residents usually pay UK tax on UK income, including pensions, rent, savings interest and wages for work done in the UK. The State Pension and interest on UK gilts are the usual exceptions [1].
British citizens keep the Personal Allowance as non-residents, as do EEA citizens and anyone who worked for the UK government in the tax year. Others may get it under a tax treaty [2].
The Personal Allowance is £12,570 for 2025/26 and 2026/27 [3], and the November 2025 Budget extended the freeze until April 2031 [4].
A special limit for non-residents can cap the UK tax on savings interest and dividends at whatever was deducted at source [5].
You usually need a Self Assessment return if you have UK rent, UK self-employment, taxable UK interest or other untaxed UK income [1].

What stays taxable in the UK

UK income	Taxed in the UK when you're non-resident?	Notes
Rent from UK property	Yes	Non-Resident Landlord Scheme; Self Assessment [6]
Workplace and private pensions	Usually, unless a tax treaty gives the right to your new country	Claim treaty relief to stop UK tax at source [7]
UK government service pensions	Usually only in the UK	Most treaties keep these in the UK [7]
State Pension	Non-residents usually don't pay UK tax on it [1]	Your new country may tax it
Bank and building society interest	Taxable, but often capped under the non-resident limit [5]	Treaty relief may apply
UK dividends	Taxable, but often capped under the non-resident limit [5]	Treaties often cap UK tax on dividends [8]
Interest on gilts	Non-residents usually don't pay UK tax on it [1]
Pay for work done in the UK	Yes, for the days you work here [1]
Gains on UK property or land	Yes [7]	Separate reporting rules on a sale

Your new country will usually want to tax a lot of this too, because residents there are taxed on worldwide income. The double taxation treaty decides who goes first, which we cover in double taxation agreements and reliefs.

The Personal Allowance for non-residents

This is the bit people worry about, and for most of our readers it's good news. You get the Personal Allowance as a non-resident if [2]:

you're a British citizen,
you're a citizen of a European Economic Area (EEA) country, or
you've worked for the UK government at any time during that tax year.

You might also get it if the double taxation agreement with your country of residence includes it [2]. So a British citizen in Thailand, Dubai or Canada keeps the allowance, but a non-British partner who isn't an EEA citizen may not, depending on the treaty.

The catch is that it isn't automatic. As a non-resident you claim it at the end of each tax year in which you have UK income [2]. You do that either on your Self Assessment return (on the SA109 pages) or with form R43 [2][9].

Form R43

R43 is HMRC's claim for personal allowances and tax repayments for people who aren't resident in the UK. It covers UK income such as property, pensions, dividends and interest, and you can claim for the current tax year and the previous four [9]. It's for simpler cases: if you have UK rental income over £2,500 or trading income, you need Self Assessment instead [9].

You can claim online, in one sitting because it can't save your progress, or post the form to Pay As You Earn, HM Revenue and Customs, BX9 1AS, United Kingdom [9]. HMRC usually sends refunds by cheque; for a bank transfer, include your bank details each time [1].

Rent from a UK property

Letting your old home is the most common reason Brits abroad stay in Self Assessment. If you live abroad for six months or more a year, HMRC treats you as a non-resident landlord, and your letting agent or tenant must take basic rate tax off the rent unless HMRC has approved you to receive it gross [6]. You still declare the rent on a return either way [6].

From April 2027 property income in England, Wales and Northern Ireland gets its own tax rates. The November 2025 Budget announced 22%, 42% and 47% [4], but the Budget 2026 rates annex lists 24%, 44% and 49% for 2027/28 [10], so check the final figures before you budget. We go through the scheme, the NRL1 application and letting agents in our guide to renting out your UK home under the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme.

Pensions

The State Pension. GOV.UK says non-residents usually don't pay UK tax on it [1]. Your new country may well tax it, and whether it goes up each year depends on where you live, which is a separate story: see our guide to the UK State Pension abroad.

Workplace and private pensions. Your pension provider will normally keep taking UK tax under PAYE. Many tax treaties give the right to tax private pensions to the country where you live. In that case you can claim relief so HMRC tells the provider to pay without UK tax, using the claim form for your country or the standard DT-Individual form [7].

Government service pensions. GOV.UK says most UK government pensions, the kind paid to former civil servants and the armed forces, are taxed only in the UK [7].

GOV.UK also says you need a return if you have a pension outside the UK and were UK resident in one of the five previous tax years [1]. If you're thinking about moving a UK pension abroad, that needs regulated financial advice; read our guide to UK workplace and private pensions abroad first.

Savings interest and dividends

UK banks no longer deduct tax from interest automatically [1]. For a resident, the allowances and bands do the work; for 2026/27 the starting rate for savings covers up to £5,000 and the dividend allowance is £500 [3]. Dividend tax rates for 2026/27 are 10.75%, 35.75% and 39.35% [3]. Savings income rates are also due to rise by 2 percentage points from April 2027 [4].

For a non-resident there's an extra rule, the limit on liability in section 811 of the Income Tax Act 2007. "Disregarded income" includes interest, UK dividends and some pension and social security income. Your UK tax bill is capped at the tax already deducted from that income, plus tax on your other UK income worked out without the Personal Allowance [5]. HMRC compares this with the normal calculation, and you pay the lower figure.

In plain English: if your only UK income is a bit of interest and some dividends, the UK may take nothing more. If you also have rent, it may be better to use the normal calculation with your allowance. Software and advisers run both. The limit only applies if you're non-resident for the whole tax year, so it doesn't help in a split year [5].

Note also that you can keep an ISA you already hold, but you can't usually pay into it while non-resident. That's covered in our guide to ISAs when you move abroad.

When you still need a Self Assessment return

GOV.UK says you usually need to send a return if you live abroad and [1]:

rent out UK property,
are self-employed in the UK,
have taxable savings interest from UK banks or building societies,
have a pension outside the UK and were UK resident in one of the five previous tax years, or
have other untaxed UK income.

You don't need to report income you've already claimed relief on under a double taxation agreement [1]. Non-residents can't use HMRC's own online service to report this income, so you post the SA100 with the SA109, use commercial software that supports the SA109, or use a tax professional. Paper returns are due by 31 October [1].

If you're a British citizen with modest UK income, the Personal Allowance often wipes most of it out, but you still have to claim it. Leave it a few years and you're into the four-year limit. A tax adviser who knows both countries can check your case, and our community groups for Brits abroad are full of people who've filed the SA109 more times than they've had a proper cuppa.

UK income while you live abroad: what the taxman still wants