Since Jeremy Hunt initially stole the Labour Party’s thunder last January by announcing a proposed abolition of the domicile regime, and Labour put forward amended proposals after the election, UK resident foreigners have been waiting to see the final detail.

Draft legislation was provided at the Budget. Domicile will indeed be abolished and will be replaced with a residence-based system with effect from 5 April 2025.

Under the current draft legislation, some UK residents stand to benefit from very favourable provisions. Brand new arrivals can benefit from a regime that allows 100% tax relief on their offshore income and gains for their first four years of UK residence. There are also provisions that would allow non-doms who have previously claimed the ‘Remittance Basis’ to shelter their overseas income or gains from UK tax, to bring that sheltered income to the UK at low tax rates for a limited period. Some non-doms will have the option to re-base the acquisition cost of their personal assets to their April 2017 value. This could be beneficial for long-held assets whose value was higher in 2017 than at the time of acquisition.

However, on the downside, those non-doms who have been resident in the UK for the longer term will face the prospect of their overseas assets being caught by the Inheritance Tax (IHT) net after 10 years of residence rather than 15 years as at present. The proposals also bring offshore trusts settled with offshore assets into the IHT net if the settlor has been resident for more than 10 years – a major departure from any previous rules, and not a welcome one amongst those affected.

The detailed provisions are set out here, on our Domicile & Residence Planning page.

It is important to remember that these summaries are based on the draft legislation as it currently stands in November 2024. It still needs to go through Parliament and there may be changes before it finally comes into effect in April. We will keep you updated on new developments as soon as we have news.