Individuals
An individual is a subject of civil law. Like any other subject of law, an individual has rights and duties. In general, a natural person can have different legal statuses, sometimes several at once, such as stateless person, citizen, alien, refugee.
Since it has already been said that every physical person has responsibilities, it is necessary to consider the relationship between this and taxation. With regard to most countries, in particular the United Kingdom, individuals have such a duty as to pay taxes.
UK tax residency status for individuals is based on the number of days a person has spent in the United Kingdom during the tax period, or having a permanent place of residence in the UK. The tax period for income tax is not the same as the calendar year: it is 12 months, but begins on April 6 of each year and ends on April 5 of the following year.
However, the status of tax resident is not only in case of long time stay in the territory of Great Britain, also this status can be obtained:
- Own or rented accommodation in the United Kingdom provided certain conditions are met
- If you are employed in the United Kingdom and meet certain conditions
From 2013 the United Kingdom government has introduced new tax rules that govern tax residency. The new rules have made in relation to tax residency clearer and easier to apply to determine the tax status of any individual.
Three varieties of testing have been introduced to determine an individual’s tax residency status:
- world residency test
- the test of UK law residency
- the test of sufficient connections in the UK
Also, the new rules exclude the possibility for individuals to create artificial short periods of non-residence, during which they receive substantial income, which accrued during periods of residence, not subject to UK tax and then bring the amounts back to the UK tax free.