14 Apr 2020

General advice: If you must stay in a country due to unforeseen circumstances - including a pandemic

International travel has fallen dramatically with thousands of flights having been cancelled as countries have significantly restricted the movement of individuals and/or have closed their borders.You may be in the unfortunate position of having to remain in a country and not being able to travel elsewhere and/or to return to your country of residence. MSI's member Dixcart outlines some suggested actions you can take, to help mitigate an unplanned over-stay of days.

Tax Residence You may be in the unfortunate position of having to remain in a country and not being able to travel elsewhere and/or to return to your country of residence. If this is the case, you may inadvertently become tax resident by overstaying the number of days you should remain in that country. Action to Take Please see below a suggested list of action you can take, to help mitigate an unplanned over-stay of days, if you need to:
  • Keep records of why you are in the country, and for how long.
  • Keep all travel tickets/records.
  • Keep any notifications advising you that you cannot leave that particular country.
  • It is worth checking in the country that you are in, to see if there are exceptions to the usual residency rules. For example, HMRC in the UK have published new guidance relating to the number of days an individual who is not tax resident in the UK can spend in the UK, before they become UK tax resident and are required to pay UK tax.
  • Have plans and appropriate evidence to show that you intend to leave the country, as soon as circumstances permit.
All of the above sounds very simple – but can easily be forgotten in difficult and stressful times. Additional Information If you would like further information about the tax residence regime in a particular country, or what your particular status might be, do not hesitate to speak to your usual Dixcart contact or please email: [email protected].
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