Tax director Neil Oliver

IT will be more difficult for UK residents to move offshore to avoid the new 50 per cent tax rate, as a result of a ruling made by the Court of Appeal in London this week.

To fully achieve non-resident status those who move offshore are going to have to now give up ‘social, domestic and family ties in Britain’, a stricter test than had previously been applied.

Neil Oliver, tax director at Ernst & Young in Jersey, said many UK residents had made inquiries about moving offshore to escape the higher tax rate. He said the ruling would have no effect on those who wanted to move to Jersey ‘properly’.

The judgment will have implications for people who work offshore. Mr Oliver said that they must have full-time contracts and work outside the UK for a full UK tax year, from April to April, to be considered non-resident for tax purposes. He said that could mean having to work outside of the country for two years.

‘It will also not be sufficient, for example, to work four days a week outside the UK and then on a Friday work in your former employer’s office in London,’ he said.