Middle-Eastern man

A new client came to see me over the Christmas holiday period. He has been working in the Middle East since February 2009 and all the duties of his employment are performed abroad.

This employment will cease in the summer of 2010 and he has a new employment already lined up back in the UK. While in this overseas employment the only periods spent in the UK will be during his six-week annual holiday entitlement.

It appears that no tax is being deducted from his earnings and his PAYE tax code is ‘NT’. Was I right not to enter the amounts of this income on the 2009 tax return and claim split-year treatment?

Presumably his personal allowances are available against his pre-February 2009 income.

Am I correct in thinking that he will now be not resident until he returns to the UK this summer even though his wife...