Sorry but another Tax question

Thanks guys, I've made an appointment with my accountant but tax wise I will be two weeks short in the first year as I don't fly out until the 24th April this is the point that worries me about paying tax. I will let you know the outcome but until then any more advice is appreciated. NI wise I don't mind keeping my payments going.

Here we go. Just had a look at the NI38 form on the revenue website. Here's the relevant bit:

"If you are employed abroad

When you are employed abroad Class 1 NICs must be paid for the first 52 weeks you are there, if you meet the following conditions:

•your employer has a place of business in the UK, and

•you are ‘ordinarily resident’ in the UK (see below), and

•immediately before starting the employment abroad you were resident in the UK."

So, I didn't have to pay NI as my employer hasn't got a place of business in the UK. Remember it's all of the conditions that have to be satisified, not just one.

I could pay voluntary NI contributions, but I don't at the moment.

I didn't.

I left the UK last January, told the revenue I was leaving and got a tax rebate cheque in the post about 3 months later. Haven't heard anything from them since.

ROd - my understanding is that it is mandatory for 12 months to pay your NI contributions and the whole link to the UK is still being debated and is still unclear

Fill out the form to tell that you are becoming non-resident and they'll tell you, eventually, what you owe them / what they owe you.

My brother is in tax and he's told me recently that it's no longer a good idea to keep up NI payments after you're non resident as they now take it into account when they are assessing links to the UK when deciding whether your offshore earnings are taxable.

However, as above: you need to take professional advice. Don't rely on what you see on the internet.

Cheers jjj that is sound advice, I will be keeping my NI up to date if possible just thought someone on here would be familiar with the tax situation.

Think you will have to continue your NI for a year and you may be ok for income tax but really you should consult a UK tax accountant, this is your responsibility. HMRC will catch up with you if you don't sort it out properly