RFIG42100 - FIG regime: Claims for relief - making a claim
Claims for fewer than 4 years锘�
Overview
Section 845A ITTOIA 2005
Paragraphs 1 and 2 Schedule D1 TCGA 1992
An individual who is a 鈥榪ualifying new resident鈥� and meets the eligibility criteria set out at RFIG44000 must decide whether they want to use the new FIG regime to make a claim for relief on their foreign income and gains in their first 4 years of UK residence. A claim under the FIG regime is a claim to relief for tax purposes. A claim can be made for foreign income, or foreign gains, or both. They may also be able to make an election for new Overseas Workday Relief (see聽EIM43550).
Claims under the FIG regime can be made for the 2025-26 tax year onwards. No claims can be made for any foreign income or gains that accrued prior to 6 April 2025 (see example 3 on RFIG44000 for the remittance of pre-6 April 2025 foreign income and gains).
Not all types of foreign income are available to be relieved under the regime; there are some exceptions. See RFIG45100 onwards for details of qualifying foreign income and disqualified income. For details of foreign gains available to be relieved, see RFIG45500.
There is no de minimis or automatic application of the relief without a claim, so for the relief to apply to any amount of income or gain it must be included within a claim.
Format of claim
A claim for relief must both:
- be made on the individual鈥檚 Self Assessment tax return for the year that the claim applies to
- include details of the foreign income or gains to be relieved under the regime 鈥� income and gains to be relieved must be claimed on a source-by-source basis
Declaring foreign income for relief purposes is no different to declaring foreign income that will be taxed on the arising basis.
See RFIG42300 for the relevant time limits for claims.
See RFIG43000 for the effect of making either claim, including the impact on an individual鈥檚 allowances etc.
A foreign income claim or foreign gain claim must be made by the individual who is taxable on the income or gain.
Quantifying a claim
Where an individual makes a foreign income claim for a tax year, they are entitled to an amount of relief equal to the amount of 鈥榪ualifying foreign income鈥� (see RFIG45100) that is declared on their Self Assessment tax return for that year. The amount of relief being claimed must be quantified in the relevant tax return (see SACM3025 and SACM10010). The relief is given by deducting the amount of the relief in calculating the individual鈥檚 net income for the tax year 鈥� see Step 2 of the calculation in section 23 ITA 2007.
There is no limit to the amount of relief which may be claimed under the FIG regime during the period that an individual is a qualifying new resident. However, an individual must claim for each amount of foreign income, from each source, that they want to be relieved.
Similarly, for foreign gain claims, relief is given for each qualifying foreign gain (see聽RFIG45500) accruing to the individual that is identified in the claim. Relief is given by deducting the identified amount claimed from the total chargeable gains accruing to the individual.
Example 1
Yan is a qualifying new resident for the 2026-27 tax year, and she has an overseas property business. In 2026-27 Yan makes a total profit from this business of 拢250,000 and she has allowable expenses of 拢15,000. If Yan would like to, she can declare and claim relief for this income on her 2026-27 tax return in the amount of 拢235,000. If Yan does not make a claim in respect of this income within her tax return, even if she claims on the same return for other types of income or gains, she will pay tax at the usual rates on the 拢235,000.
Yan also has taxable profits of 拢20,000 in 2026-27 from a personal training business carried on wholly outside the UK. In order to claim relief, Yan must declare and claim the relief on this amount in her 2026-27 tax return; the 拢20,000 will not automatically be relieved by her claim in respect of her property business profits.
Claims for all 4 years
The regime is available for a maximum period of 4 consecutive years, in the first 4 years of UK tax residence after a period of 10 consecutive tax years of non-UK residence.聽
Individuals will need to make claims for each and every year they want the relief to apply to their chosen foreign income, or foreign gains, or both, in the year that they want to claim. A claim in year 1 will not automatically apply to years 2, 3 or 4.
Claims for fewer than 4 years
Individuals are not required to make a claim for every year of the 4-year period and may not want to or need to claim for all of the 4 years that are available to them. An individual who makes a claim in year 1 but chooses not to make a claim for year 2 can still make a claim for years 3 and 4. Where an individual does not make a claim in a particular year, they will not be able to utilise that year鈥檚 claim in a later year.
Example 2
After living in Canada for 20 years, Amina returns to the UK in 2025-26 to be closer to her family. She is eligible to claim under the FIG regime. She decides it would be beneficial to make claims for both foreign income and gains under the FIG regime in 2025-26 (year 1) so makes the claims in her 2025-26 tax return. Amina is free to bring her relieved income and gains to the UK at any time without any UK tax liability.
Amina decides not to make any claims in 2026-27 and 2027-28 (years 2 and 3) so pays UK tax on small amounts of foreign income and gains arising in those 2 years. Amina is also free to bring her taxed income and gains to the UK at any time without any further UK tax liability.
In 2028-29 (year 4) she decides to make a foreign income claim under the FIG regime and so makes the claim in her 2028-29 tax return. She does not have any foreign gains in 2028-29 so does not need to make a foreign gain claim.
In 2029-30 Amina is not eligible to claim the FIG regime for income or gains, even though she only made foreign income claims for 2 years (2025-26 and 2028-29) and a foreign gain claim for one year, because it is her fifth year of UK residence following her 20 years of non-UK residence. The only possibility for Amina to claim relief under the FIG regime in future is if she becomes non-UK resident for a period of at least 10 consecutive tax years and then returns to the UK following that period.