Review of the remittance basis for non-domiciles

On 20 August 2021 HMRC confirmed that it would be writing to non-domiciled taxpayers who have lived in the UK for either seven years out of the previous nine tax years or 12 out of the last 14 who have filed their 2019-20 tax returns but who subsequently may still need to pay the remittance basis charge (RBC) or move to the arising basis.

HMRC has been writing various ‘nudge’ letters to taxpayers for a number of years now. The UK government first started using ‘nudge’ theory in 2010 when the behavioural insights team was set up in the Cabinet Office.

The ‘nudge’ principles HMRC uses aim to educate the taxpayer by way of norm-based and public good statements to affect behaviour to improve compliance and reduce the tax gap in the case of taxpayers.

The letters provide examples of common errors HMRC sees...