The UK FIG Regime: A Complete 2026 Eligibility Guide for Returning Expats and New Residents
Written by: Huzaifa Aziz
On 6 April 2025, the United Kingdom formally abolished the centuries-old non-domicile ("non-dom") remittance basis of taxation, replacing it with the Foreign Income and Gains (FIG) 4-Year Regime. While the headline rule—10 years of non-UK residence qualifying you for 4 years of tax-free foreign income and gains—is widely reported, almost no online guide accurately computes a reader's real relief-years-remaining once mid-window departures, transitional arrival rules, and allowance trade-offs are factored in.
This cornerstone guide and calculator exist to bridge that gap. We break down not just whether you qualify, but what claiming FIG actually costs you in forfeited UK tax allowances, how mid-window departures burn remaining relief years, and how to utilize the Temporary Repatriation Facility (TRF) to bring historic pre-2025 offshore wealth into the UK at discounted tax rates.
1. What the FIG Regime Replaced, and Who It's For
The transition from a domicile-based system to a residence-based tax regime represents the largest structural reform of UK personal taxation in over a century. Under the legacy non-dom rules, individuals claiming foreign domicile could keep offshore income and capital gains exempt from UK tax indefinitely, provided those funds were never remitted (brought into) the UK.
Effective 6 April 2025, domicile has been completely removed as a tax concept for income tax and capital gains tax. In its place, the FIG regime provides a simple, objective residence-based test:
- The 10-Year Non-Residence Test: You must have been non-UK resident under the Statutory Residence Test (SRT) for at least 10 consecutive tax years immediately preceding your arrival in the UK.
- UK Nationals Can Qualify: A widespread misconception is that UK citizens or previously UK-domiciled individuals cannot qualify. This is incorrect. Provided a UK national has lived abroad and been non-resident for 10 consecutive UK tax years, they have the exact same right to claim 4 years of FIG relief as any foreign national.
- Total Remittance Freedom: Unlike the legacy remittance basis, foreign income and gains sheltered under the FIG regime can be remitted into the UK, spent, or invested in UK assets completely tax-free without triggering any UK tax charge.
2. The Real Cost of Claiming: Personal Allowance and CGT Exemption Trade-Off
Claiming FIG relief is not free. Under Section 809H / Schedule 1 rules, claiming FIG relief in any tax year requires forfeiting both your UK Personal Allowance (£12,570) and your Capital Gains Tax (CGT) annual exempt amount (£3,000).
This trade-off means that for individuals with modest foreign income, claiming FIG relief can actually cost more in lost UK tax allowances than it saves in foreign tax shelter:
Worked Example: Moderate vs High Foreign Income Claimants
Claimant A (Moderate Foreign Income): Has £5,000 of foreign dividends and £80,000 of UK employment income.
• Value of forfeited Personal Allowance (£12,570 @ 40%) = £5,028
• Value of tax saved on £5,000 foreign dividends (~33.75%) = £1,687.50
Result: Loss of £3,340.50 by claiming FIG. Claimant A should NOT claim FIG.
Claimant B (High Foreign Gains): Has £150,000 of foreign capital gains and £100,000 of UK income.
• Value of forfeited Personal Allowance & CGT exemption = £5,628
• Value of tax saved on £150,000 foreign gains (@ 20%) = £30,000
Result: Net tax savings of £24,372 / year. Claimant B SHOULD claim FIG.
3. The 4-Year Window, Mid-Window Departures, and the Transitional Rule
The 4-year FIG window starts on your first day of UK residence and runs strictly for 4 consecutive tax years. Gaps, temporary departures, or pre-regime arrival dates alter your usable relief as follows:
Transitional Rules (Arrivals 2022/23 to 2024/25)
If you became UK resident between 2022/23 and 2024/25 (having satisfied the 10-year non-residence test before arrival), you do not get a fresh 4-year window starting 6 April 2025. Instead, your 4-year window is anchored to your original arrival year, and you can only claim FIG for the remaining tax years in that window:
- Arrived 2022/23: Window = [2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25, 2025/26] → 1 claimable year left (2025/26)
- Arrived 2023/24: Window = [2023/24, 2024/25, 2025/26, 2026/27] → 2 claimable years left (2025/26 & 2026/27)
- Arrived 2024/25: Window = [2024/25, 2025/26, 2026/27, 2027/28] → 3 claimable years left
Mid-Window Departures Do NOT Pause the Clock
If you leave the UK during your 4-year window and become non-resident for a tax year, that year is simply wasted. The 4-year clock does not pause, shift, or bank unused years for future return.
4. The Temporary Repatriation Facility (TRF): Bringing Pre-2025 Wealth Home
For individuals who previously claimed the non-dom remittance basis, pre-6-April-2025 unremitted foreign income and gains would normally face standard UK tax rates (up to 45%) if brought into the UK.
The Temporary Repatriation Facility (TRF) provides a time-limited window to designate historic offshore funds and remit them to the UK at reduced fixed rates:
- Tax Years 2025/26 & 2026/27: Special flat tax rate of 12%
- Tax Year 2027/28: Increased flat tax rate of 15%
5. Overseas Workday Relief (OWR) and the Foreign Employment Income Cap
Overseas Workday Relief (OWR) has been aligned with the FIG regime for employees performing duties outside the UK. Under the 2025/26 rules, OWR allows qualifying employees to shelter foreign employment income up to a mandatory annual cap:
Relief Cap = MIN( £300,000, 30% of Total Foreign Employment Income ) per tax year.
6. How and When to Claim
Claiming FIG relief is not automatic. An individual must make an explicit annual election on the SA109 Residence pages of their UK Self Assessment tax return. If you do not claim in a qualifying year, you cannot retroactively claim that year later.
7. Inheritance Tax (IHT) Shift to Residence-Based Model
Effective 6 April 2025, United Kingdom Inheritance Tax (IHT) transitions from a domicile-based framework to a residence-based model under Finance Act 2025, subjecting individuals who have been UK tax resident for 10 out of the previous 20 tax years to 40% IHT on worldwide assets.
Under legacy rules, non-UK domiciled individuals ("non-doms") were only subject to UK IHT on UK-situs assets (such as UK real estate or UK company shares). Foreign assets were classified as "excluded property" and remained outside the UK IHT net regardless of how long the individual had lived in the UK, provided deemed-domiciled status (15 out of 20 years) had not attached.
The 10-Year IHT Exemption for New Arrivals
Under the residence-based IHT framework, a non-UK resident individual arriving in the UK enjoys a 10-year grace period during which their non-UK assets remain completely outside the scope of UK Inheritance Tax. During this initial decade of UK residence, only UK-situs assets are subject to 40% IHT. This 10-year IHT exemption spans longer than the 4-year FIG regime, providing substantial multi-year estate planning buffer for returning expats and new arrivals.
The 10-Year "IHT Tail" Upon Departing the UK
Once an individual completes 10 consecutive tax years of UK residence, their worldwide asset base falls squarely into the UK IHT scope. Crucially, leaving the UK does not immediately extinguish worldwide IHT liability. Finance Act 2025 introduces a 10-year IHT tail: an individual who was UK resident for 10 to 20 years will remain subject to UK IHT on worldwide assets for up to 10 full tax years after becoming non-UK resident.
⚠️ Warning: Loss of Excluded Property Trust Protection (Post-2025 Rules)
Offshore trusts established by former non-doms prior to 6 April 2025 historically protected foreign assets from UK IHT indefinitely under the excluded property trust rules. Under HMRC offshore trust IHT changes in Finance Act 2025, excluded property status is abolished for trust assets whenever the settlor satisfies the 10-out-of-20-year UK residence test. Settlors must review offshore trust structures with private client tax advisors immediately.
8. Temporary Repatriation Facility (TRF) & Mixed Fund Unmixing
The Temporary Repatriation Facility (TRF) is a 3-year statutory scheme (2025/26 to 2027/28) under Schedule 1 of Finance Act 2025 that permits taxpayers to designate and remit pre-6-April-2025 unremitted foreign income and gains into the UK at reduced flat tax rates of 12% or 15%.
Historically, remitting mixed offshore funds (containing a blend of foreign income, capital gains, and clean capital) triggered complex statutory ordering rules under Income Tax Act 2007 (ITA 2007 ss 809Q–809Z). HMRC deemed the highest-taxed income to be remitted first, creating administrative nightmares for former remittance basis claimants.
Simplified Mixed Fund Cleansing Mechanics
The TRF radically simplifies offshore fund unmixing. Taxpayers make an explicit TRF election on SA106 (Foreign) / SA109 (Residence) designating a specific sum of pre-2025 foreign income or gains. Once the flat TRF tax charge is settled, that designated capital becomes clean capital and can be remitted to the UK in any tax year (including future years beyond 2027/28) without any further UK tax charge.
| Tax Year of Designation | TRF Flat Tax Rate | Self Assessment Due Date | Historical Unmixing Required? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025/26 | 12% Flat Rate | 31 January 2027 | No — Statutory Cleansing Applied |
| 2026/27 | 12% Flat Rate | 31 January 2028 | No — Statutory Cleansing Applied |
| 2027/28 (Final Year) | 15% Flat Rate | 31 January 2029 | No — Statutory Cleansing Applied |
9. Statutory Residence Test (SRT) & Split Year Edge Cases
Under the Statutory Residence Test (SRT) set out in Schedule 45 of Finance Act 2013, a split tax year counts as a full UK tax year of residence for the purposes of the 10-consecutive-year non-residence test, immediately terminating eligibility for the 4-year FIG regime.
Under SRT rules, Split Year Treatment allows an individual arriving in the UK partway through a tax year (e.g. Case 4 starting full-time work, Case 5 starting to have a home in the UK) to divide that tax year into an overseas part and a UK part for charging income tax. However, for statutory eligibility tests, HMRC assesses residence on a whole-year basis.
Case Study: Executive Arriving Under Case 4 Split Year Treatment
An executive was non-UK resident for 9 consecutive tax years (2015/16 through 2023/24). On 10 November 2024, she relocates to London under Case 4 Split Year Treatment for 2024/25.
Impact on 10-Year Test: Because 2024/25 is classified as a UK resident tax year under SRT rules, she has only accumulated 9 consecutive non-resident tax years. She fails the 10-year gate check and is completely ineligible for the 4-year FIG regime. Had she delayed her physical UK arrival to 6 April 2025 (completing 10 full non-resident tax years), she would have qualified for 4 years of FIG relief.
10. Overseas Workday Relief (OWR) Restructuring & Capping
Overseas Workday Relief (OWR) under Section 26 of ITEPA 2003 has been restructured to align with the 4-year FIG regime, removing dual employment contract requirements while capping relievable foreign employment income at the lower of £300,000 or 30% of total qualifying employment income per tax year.
Prior to 6 April 2025, claiming OWR required employees to maintain separate offshore employment contracts and strictly keep foreign earnings offshore in designated bank accounts. Under reformed rules, qualifying employees claiming FIG relief can claim OWR directly on Form SA102 (Employment) without needing dual contracts or offshore bank account isolation.
Worked OWR Cap Calculation: Senior Executive Earning £1,200,000
| Parameter | Executive Figure | Statutory Cap Test |
|---|---|---|
| Total Qualifying Employment Income | £1,200,000 | Base salary + bonus |
| Non-UK Workdays Performed | 40% of workdays | Uncapped Relief = £480,000 |
| 30% Income Cap Test | £360,000 | 30% * £1,200,000 |
| Absolute Annual Cap Test | £300,000 | Statutory £300k Limit |
| Final OWR Relievable Income | £300,000 | Capped at MIN(£360k, £300k) |
11. CGT Asset Rebasing & Loss Election Rules
Current non-doms who claimed the remittance basis between 6 April 2017 and 5 April 2025 can rebase qualifying personally-held foreign assets to their 5 April 2017 market value upon disposal, shielding pre-2017 capital appreciation from UK Capital Gains Tax.
To qualify for the 5 April 2017 CGT rebasing rule under TCGA 1992 transitional rules, the asset must have been held personally by the individual on 5 April 2017 and disposed of on or after 6 April 2025. This relief ensures that individuals transitioning out of the remittance basis are not taxed on foreign growth accrued prior to April 2017.
Foreign Capital Loss Election Rules
Under the 4-year FIG regime, foreign capital gains are completely sheltered from UK tax. However, if a taxpayer incurs a foreign capital loss during a FIG claim year, that loss cannot automatically be offset against UK capital gains. To utilize foreign capital losses against UK gains in future years, the taxpayer must make an explicit Foreign Capital Loss Election on SA108 (Capital Gains).
Disclaimer: This tool and guide are for general informational purposes only, do not constitute formal tax or legal advice, and FIG eligibility depends on individual statutory residence circumstances. Readers should confirm their position with a qualified UK tax adviser before making a claim. Last updated: August 2026.