Do you have to file a UK tax return if all your income is in the US?

My husband is resident in the UK (he holds a spouse visa; I am a dual UKC/USC) but he works remotely for a US company. All his income is in the US and paid into a US bank account. He does not bring any of that money to the UK; we live off of my UK income and savings. He does have a UK National Insurance number because when we first moved here he was looking for work in the UK before he found the remote job.

Is it correct that he does not have to file a UK tax return, because he has no income in the UK?

Looking ahead (3 year's time) to when he wants to apply for UK citizenship, it looks like the form is going to ask him his employment history and check up on his tax, so we want to make sure everything is correct now so that it doesn't cause any issues.

More knowledgeable folks will be along to respond but I believe that if you are resident in the UK then you are taxed on your worldwide income and that should apply to your husband as well even though he is a USC with all his income coming from the USA.

There is a double taxation agreement between the US and UK so that he will get credits against his US taxes so that he won't be taxed twice. As a USC he will have to file taxes in the US even after he becomes a UKC.

UK residents who have their permanent home (‘domicile’) outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income.


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I think what you are saying is that your husband is a US citizen who is employed and does 100% of his work in the UK. Consequently he has the benefits of local UK employment law and is subject to UK tax on all of his employment income. His employer may find that it has a permanent establishment in the UK and is required to register for UK corporation tax and VAT as well as issue him an English or Scottish law employment contract. If - and only if - the employer has no permanent establishment in the UK there may be no obligation to withhold PAYE.

If your husband wishes to claim the remittance basis for other kinds of income he will need to be within self-assessment. In the meantime one assumes that his employer has taken legal and tax advice on its own UK obligations. Would the employer be willing to share this with your husband?

Someone more knowledgeable, correct me if I'm wrong, but:

My first two years in the UK I was a US employee, paid in USD, into a US account.  However, I owed UK tax on my self-assessment which was then credited on my US tax return.  I would think your husband should be paying UK tax as self-employed in the UK and then taking a credit for his US taxes...

The question as to whether your husband is an employed worker would indeed need to be considered under English or Scottish law. My previous reply assumed that under local law he is an employed worker; rather than self-employed.  HMRCs status tool can be used to review employment status if this might help.

As your husband is resident in the UK and does all his work in the UK then UK income tax and national insurance is due on his earnings. Whether he's an employee or self employed will determine whether the US company or he is responsible for paying those taxes. Is FICA and US income tax being withheld from his earnings?