Q&A: Decision in A Weis

HMRC has recently had several successes challenging taxpayers’ assertions that at general law they were domiciled outside the UK. The latest reported case is that concerning Rabbi Aubrey Weis in the First-tier Tribunal (TC9463).

What is domicile?

Domicile is a concept of private international law that links a person to a particular territory and governs the validity of marriage the effect of marriage on the proprietary rights of spouses divorce and nullity of marriage legitimacy legitimation and adoption and wills of moveables and intestate succession to moveables. (It originated in the Roman Empire so it’s one of the things the Romans did for us.)

A person can only have one domicile at a time. In simple terms in England at birth a child takes its domicile of origin from the father if the parents are married and from the mother if they are...