As Trusted Housesitters is a British company I wonder whether any of you can answer the following questions. I want to start travelling abroad towards the end of the year from house-sit to house-sit and may stay away for a few months to a few years at a time, and I wonder about some legal issues.
Do long-term travellers have to maintain a permanent residence in the UK? If so, is it enough to just give the tax office, insurance companies etc. as well as the THS office the address of a relative or friend who I am constantly in touch with, or does my name have to be on a lease document for a place where I will not be? If I have my own home, can I rent it out while I am away and have my mail forwarded elsewhere?
Travelling by car with a British number plate, what happens if I donāt turn up back in the UK every April to have my MOT done? Can the MOT be postponed until I return or can a certificate from another country replace it?
Can I actually shift my tax residence to any other country of my choice when I work on the Internet and donāt live in the UK permanently anymore? I pay awfully much tax here.
I donāt really understand this either Romana. I mean we should be able to travel the world as long as we want, so long as we pay tax if due. There is a 183 day rule - that you have to be resident in the UK for 183 days in each year, and some people say theyāve come a cropper when not following this rule, others just ignore it. I would say phone the tax office to ask but then theyāll likely note the question by your name.
Hi @Romana your personal travel situation is independent of any connection with TrustedHousesitters.
You are doing exactly the right thing in researching your position and all aspects of personal responsibilities before embarking on any extended overseas travel.
All information for travelers will be available through official government websites and other specialist advisers. It is always advisable to go the official route as every personās situation is different
The answer to question one is no. I used my brothers address, with his permission, for five years. Everything just went on normally but I wasnāt working or paying tax. The biggest hurdle was to get people to use email instead of postal letters. The tax office and NHS were the worst.
We are now travelling in US, Canada and South America for the next two to three years. There is a company called Mail Box US, in North Dakota who acts as a mailing address for us so when we buy cars or need insurance we have a legal postal address.
Iām sorry I canāt help with the other questions. I do know to be very careful about taxes in the US. Once you are on their radar thereās no getting away. We travel on a B1/B2 visa so we have to leave every 6 months which seems to comply with the tax laws as well.
Good luck and if you find out anymore information please post it. I would be very interested
Yes, most Canadian snowbirds are pretty careful about how many days they spend per year in the US. And itās a bit complicated if I remember correctly.
Hmm. So I read a bit on Google about the 183 day rule in the UK and it seems to be the same in the US and other countries. So, basically, if you donāt spend at least 6 months per year in the country you lose the residency status.
Does that mean that a travelling income earner doesnāt need to pay tax in any country at all? That would be good. But would such a traveller also lose all their old-age pension entitlements?
@Kelownagurl and Iāll add to that point. Each Canadian province has additional rules concerning days out of the province (not country) to be eligible for health/medical coverage. These are things that certainly need a lot of time dedicated to them in every country and are sometimes so difficult to interpret and in some instances, change so frequently.
Natural born US citizen can stay indefinitely out of the country. There are no residency requirements. There are tax laws of course for those earning income.
As Angela said, every individual case is different so it is best to research official sites or seek legal counsel.
It is very difficult to get travel/health insurance for a long period abroad if you are over 60. The so called back packers insurance is for youngsters and they wonāt even entertain us oldies.
The insurance industry is going to have to take a long hard look at this problem in the very near future. In the UK retirement age is going up, 67+. However, it is almost impossible to get travel/health insurance for over 65s. So, when people eventually retire they cannot travel which is very unfair. People are living longer but insurance companies havenāt shifted their age limits to reflect this.
We have had to resort to using an American Company to get good insurance for our nomad lifestyle.
Agreed medical insurance can be a bit tricky.
I use a legal address in the US and being an older fabulous person I have our countryās medical plan for retired folk. When I travel I have travel insurance and am now exploring Asistcard which has a very inexpensive annual travel insurance that includes repatriation and COVID related incidents. It was recommended in a expat group so donāt know very much as yet and I believe it is only for US residents.
But I want to travel in North and South America so I pay the premiums. Itās just another cost of my retirement.
Do both of these companies have trip length stipulations? Thatās another thing we have found difficult to find. Usually they want yo7 back in your own country after 13 weeks.
I guess, it may be worthwhile coming back to the UK (or your respective home country) at least once a year for the most important health check provided by the NHS (or your respective national provider), such as blood and urine check, perhaps some Xray or ultrasound scan etc. and dental work, even if it would mean - for me - leaving my car and my cat in someoneās care in Uganda or Thailand or Chile and quickly fly āhomeā for a few days. Basically, I think one can be the rest of the year away without any public authorities knowing. I donāt believe that anyone will really check all border crossings to calculate how many days I have spent in the country throughout the year and whether I am still eligible for NHS services and old-age pension. Am I right? But thanks for all the information about travel health insurances, that is an important topic!
A car has to have an MOT once a year for insurance to be valid. This cannot be done anywhere else (even Gibraltar). This is a question that gets asked regularly on the motorhome forums I am on
