HMRC to give ‘special treatment’ to expats stuck in UK due to coronavirus
HM Revenue & Customs has issued advice to British expatriates stuck in the UK due to coronavirus over tax residence rules.
The tax authority will allow special treatment to be given to expatriates that face risking their non-residence tax status through being stuck in the UK longer than anticipated.
The Financial Times reported that British citizens that live abroad but are trapped in the UK due to the coronavirus pandemic will be able to apply for “exceptional services”.
Many countries have issued travel bans due to the outbreak, which could require people to remain in the UK unexpectedly.
In a guidance note HMRC said it will treat people quarantined or self isolating in the UK, those advised not to travel or unable to due to border closures and people asked to return to the country by their employer due to the outbreak as exceptional circumstances.
“The revenue has never done anything like this before,” Simon Goldring, a partner at law firm McDermott Will and Emery, told the FT. “I have never seen the revenue respond so fast to help people.”
The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK rose to 6,650 today, while the death toll jumped by 54 to 335.
The prime minister this evening announced that people should not leave the house except to go to work, to buy food or medicine or to exercise once a day.