Advice for Returning Expat with Offshore Bond Investment

The Scenario

This client returned to the UK in 2023/24 tax year holding an Offshore Bond they’d been advised to set up whilst working overseas.

They’d originally invested £110,000 in the 2019/20 tax year, following advice received in the country of residence.

Upon reading our article about the potential tax implications of returning to the UK with an Offshore Bond, they reached out to us and arranged a consultation.

At Clifton, we partner with a Financial Planning firm that specialise in helping expats optimise their wealth and financial plan upon retuning to the UK.

They immediately confirmed that the client's Offshore Bond was indeed a Personalised Portfolio Bond, capable of holding personalised assets such as direct shares or Structured Products, which means it would be subject to a recuring deemed gains tax charge.

Whilst the bond wasn’t holding those assets at the time, just the fact that it was capable of holding them meant it would still be subject to the tax charge.

Following the review, it was also identified that the underlying investments were not aligned with the client’s risk profile, and would be expected to produce lower overall returns in the long term.

The Solution

The underlying investments were switched into more suitable investments aligned with the client’s risk profile, and the structure of the Offshore Bond was amended to no longer fall foul of the deemed gains tax charge.

The purpose of this case study is to provide generic guidance on a scenario, and this should not be deemed as financial advice. Please note: our partners are specialist Financial Planners and not tax advisers. This information is based on the current tax rules and HMRC may amend these at any time.