Once I become UK resident, can I avail myself of the remittance basis in respect of any income or gains arising on my cryptoassets?
HMRC’s view on this is clear. If you are UK resident, they consider your cryptoassets are situated in the UK.
On that basis, you will incur capital gains tax on any capital gains you realise on them in the year they arise, without the benefit of the remittance basis.
Accordingly, the prudent approach will generally be for you to arrange before you become UK resident to own your cryptoassets via a non-UK company, or owned by a non-UK resident trust (subject to any restrictions that may apply to their transfer, such as if they were issued to you by your employer on the condition that you don’t transfer the crypto without their consent). The company or trust (as the case may be) should not incur capital gains tax on any capital gains realised on the cryptoassets they own; and, with careful planning, it should be possible to rely on the remittance basis to extract these gains into your personal name without you incurring tax.
For more information or advice, please contact Alex Tamosius, Senior Associate in our Private Client team.
Senior Executives: thinking of relocating to the UK?
When the employee has relocated to the UK and employment has started
- I assume I can't get naturalised as a British citizen and obtain a passport if I want to remain non-domiciled?
- What factors other than citizenship will be taken into account in determining my domicile status and, if I do become UK domiciled, can I reverse the position?
- I am being offered Crypto tokens as an incentive by my employer. How will I be taxed?
- I've bought a UK property, as my job will keep me here for 5 years or more. I have put a Will in place as my conveyancer suggested to deal with the house. It covers all my assets, including my assets in France, where I remain domiciled.
- I have old US stock options granted 2 years ago by my then US employer over shares in the US top company of the group granted when my duties were solely in the US. I am now employed by the wholly owned UK subsidiary: do I pay UK taxes on vesting?
Please do contact any member of our Sen Ex Advisory Group to suggest a question or to find out more about how we can help.
Senior Executives: thinking of relocating to the UK?
We answer common questions raised at key stages of the relocation process.