If you are new to the UK and have foreign income or gains, the Foreign Income and Gains (FIG) regime could allow you to pay no UK tax on qualifying overseas income and gains for up to four tax years.
Introduced on 6 April 2025, the FIG regime replaced the remittance basis for qualifying new UK residents.
This guide explains who qualifies, how FIG relief works, what to report on your Self Assessment tax return, and the tax allowances you may lose when you claim.
What is the FIG Regime?
The Foreign Income and Gains (FIG) regime was introduced from 6 April 2025, when the UK abolished the remittance basis of taxation and moved away from domicile as a key factor in the tax system. Instead, the UK now follows a residence-based system, meaning UK residents are generally taxed on the arising basis. This means their worldwide income and gains are taxed when they arise, even if the money is kept outside the UK.
The FIG regime helps ease that transition for people who are genuinely new to UK residence. If you qualify, you can claim relief on eligible foreign income and gains so that no UK tax is charged on those amounts during your first four years of UK residence. Unlike the old remittance basis, income and gains covered by the FIG regime can also be brought into the UK later without creating a UK tax charge.
Who Qualifies for the Foreign Income & Gains Regime?
You may qualify for the FIG regime if all of these apply:
- You are in one of your first four tax years as a UK resident
- You were not a UK resident for at least 10 tax years in a row before coming to the UK
- You are not a member of the House of Commons or the House of Lords
Your UK residence status is worked out using the Statutory Residence Test (SRT). This is the set of rules HMRC uses to decide whether you are UK resident for tax purposes. The FIG regime can apply for up to four tax years in a row, starting from the first tax year you become UK resident.
For example,
If you became a UK resident in the 2022 to 2023 tax year, your four-year period would run from:
- 2022 to 2023 (Year 1)
- 2023 to 2024 (Year 2)
- 2024 to 2025 (Year 3)
- 2025 to 2026 (Year 4)
This means you can still use the FIG regime in the 2025 to 2026 tax year, but only because it is your final (fourth) year. After that, the relief will no longer apply.
How the Four-Year Foreign Income & Gains Period Works in Practice
You do not have to claim FIG relief every year. You can choose which years to make a claim and which years to let pass without one. However, there is no ability to roll unused years forward.
This means if you skip a year, that year is simply gone. You cannot add it to the end of your four-year period or carry it forward to a later year.
Here is an example to illustrate how this Four-Year Foreign Income and Gains period works.
Ama returns to the UK in 2025 to 2026 after 12 years living in Ghana. She claims relief under the FIG regime for year one. She then chooses not to claim for years two and three, paying UK tax on small foreign income amounts in those years. In year four (2028 to 2029), she makes a claim again for foreign income.
In 2029 to 2030, Ama is no longer eligible, even though she only claimed for two years. Her four-year window has simply expired. The only way she could use the FIG regime again in future is if she leaves the UK for at least 10 consecutive tax years and then returns.
How to Claim FIG Relief
You claim FIG relief through your Self-Assessment tax return. You will need to fill in the SA109 form, which covers residence and the Foreign Income and Gains regime, and complete the extra tax return pages that match the type of income or gains you want relief on.
On SA109, you choose the right box for your claim:
- Box 28 for foreign income
- Box 29 for foreign gains
- Box 30 if you have UK income or gains treated as foreign under the Qualifying Asset Holding Company (QAHC) rules
After that, you claim the actual relief on the correct supplementary pages:
- SA103F for overseas self-employment income
- SA104F for your share of overseas partnership income
- SA106 for most foreign income
- SA107 for foreign estate income from trusts
- SA108 for foreign capital gains
You do not have to claim relief on every type of foreign income or gain you have. You can claim relief only for the sources you want. For example, you may claim relief on foreign income only, foreign gains only, or both in the same tax year.
Note
One important point is that relief must be claimed separately for each source. For example, if you have foreign bank interest and foreign dividends, you must enter each one separately on SA106. The same rule applies to foreign gains as well.
A Practical Example
Sergio moved to the UK in August 2025 after 17 years abroad.
In the 2025 to 2026 tax year, he received £50,000 in foreign dividends and sold overseas shares for a £20,000 gain. He wants to claim relief on both.
He needs to complete:
- SA106 to report the £50,000 foreign dividends and claim £50,000 of relief
- SA108 to report the £20,000 gain and claim £20,000 of relief
- SA109 to make both a foreign income claim and a foreign gain claim
Because he is making a claim under the FIG regime, Sergio will not receive his personal allowance or his Capital Gains Tax (CGT) annual exempt amount for that year. This is an important trade-off to factor into the decision.
Time Limits for Making a Claim
You normally have 12 months after the standard Self-Assessment deadline to make a FIG regime claim. In other words, the final deadline is 31 January in the year after your filing deadline.
For example,
For the 2025 to 2026 tax year, the normal filing deadline is 31 January 2027. This means you have until 31 January 2028 to make or amend a FIG claim for that year. The same deadline applies whether you are claiming relief for foreign income, foreign gains, or both. If HMRC issues a late notice to file, different rules may apply.
What Do You Give Up When Claiming FIG Relief?
This is the part that most summaries gloss over, but it matters.
If you make a FIG regime claim (or an Overseas Workday Relief election) for any tax year, you lose:
- Your personal allowance
- Your CGT annual exempt amount
- The blind person's allowance
- Tax reductions for married couples and civil partners
- The transferable tax allowance for married couples and civil partners
- Relief on certain life insurance related payments
All the above are lost regardless of whether you only claim for income, only for gains, or only elect for OWR. Claiming relief on just a small amount of foreign income still costs you the full personal allowance for that year.
You also lose the ability to use certain losses in that year. Foreign capital losses, overseas trading losses, and finance cost relief on overseas property businesses all fall away. Those losses cannot be carried forward or back either.
A few other effects to be aware of:
Which Income & Gains Qualify
Income must be qualifying foreign income and must have arisen on or after 6 April 2025. HMRC sets out the full list, but the main categories are:
- Profits from a trade carried on wholly outside the UK
- A UK resident partner's share of profits from a wholly overseas trade
- Profits from an overseas property business
- Dividends from non-UK resident companies
- Interest from foreign bank accounts
- Most foreign pension income (some types are excluded)
- Income assessable under the Transfer of Assets Abroad provisions
- Certain income arising under the settlement’s legislation
Relevant foreign earnings and foreign specific employment income do not qualify for the foreign income claim route. You may still get relief on these through an Overseas Workday Relief election.
Imp point for former remittance basis users: You cannot use the FIG regime to relieve foreign income and gains that arose before 6 April 2025, even if that money is still sitting outside the UK. For those older amounts, the Temporary Repatriation Facility (TRF), covered in help sheet HS264, may be worth considering instead.
Disqualified Income in Fig Regime
Some types of income are outside the FIG regime entirely and are taxed when they arise, regardless of any claim you make. These are known as disqualified income and include:
- Certain income under the settlement’s legislation
- Income from a security treated as UK-situated following certain share exchanges involving non-UK close companies
- Transferred income streams treated as income
- Performance income
- Certain pension income types
Settlement Legislation
This is an anti-avoidance rule. If you transfer income to a spouse, child, or trust to reduce your tax bill but still have some connection to or benefit from it, HMRC can treat that income as still yours for tax purposes. Within the FIG regime, some income caught by this rule can still qualify for relief while other amounts are disqualified entirely, so if this applies to you, professional advice before filing is worthwhile.
FIG Regime vs the Old Remittance Basis
The FIG regime is different from the old remittance basis. Under the remittance basis, foreign income and gains were usually taxed only if you brought the money into the UK. Under the FIG regime, qualifying foreign income and gains are not taxed in the UK at all during the relief period, and you can still bring that money into the UK later without an extra tax charge.
The main advantage of the FIG regime is that it is simpler. You do not need to keep track of what money has been brought into the UK and what has stayed abroad. However, the relief is only available for up to four tax years, starting from when you first become UK resident after at least 10 tax years of non-UK residence. The old remittance basis could be used for longer in some cases, but that system has now been abolished.
Mistakes Worth Knowing About FIG Regime
Relief is not automatic. You must actively make a claim on your Self-Assessment return for each year you want relief to apply. Assuming it will be applied by default is a common misunderstanding.
The source-by-source requirement also catches people out. A single claim entry covering "all foreign income" is not sufficient. Each source needs its own claim.
If your UK-source income is modest, it is worth modelling the numbers before deciding to claim. The personal allowance and CGT annual exempt amount are not trivial. If the foreign income or gains being relieved are smaller than the tax cost of losing those allowances, a FIG claim may not make financial sense for that year.
And the pre-April 2025 income issue comes up regularly. If you have unremitted foreign income from your earlier UK residency under the remittance basis, or from the years you were non-resident, the FIG regime does not cover it. That income needs a different approach.
Before You File: A Practical Check
- You have been non-UK resident for at least 10 consecutive tax years
- This is within your first four tax years of UK residence
- You are not an MP or peer
- The income and gains you want to relieve arose on or after 6 April 2025
- SA109 is complete with boxes 28, 29 or 30 ticked as appropriate
- Relief has been claimed on the correct supplementary pages, source by source
- You have factored in the loss of personal allowance and CGT annual exempt amount
- Pension contribution relief implications have been considered
- You have not claimed Foreign Tax Credit Relief (FTCR) on the same income
- The claim will be filed by the relevant 31 January deadline
Conclusion
The Foreign Income and Gains (FIG) regime can give qualifying new UK residents up to four years of UK tax relief on eligible foreign income and gains. Unlike the old remittance basis, relieved funds can generally be brought into the UK without triggering an additional tax charge.
However, claiming FIG can mean losing your Personal Allowance and CGT annual exempt amount for that year, so the relief is not always worth claiming where foreign income or gains are modest. Check the numbers before making a claim. For 2025/26, the claim deadline is 31 January 2028.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, usually they are. From 6 April 2025, most UK residents are taxed on the arising basis, which means their worldwide income and gains are taxed when they arise, even if the money stays outside the UK. However, if you qualify for the FIG regime, you may be able to claim relief so that certain foreign income and gains are not taxed in the UK during your first four tax years of UK residence.
From 6 April 2025, the UK made major changes to the taxation of foreign income and gains. The remittance basis was abolished, domicile stopped being the main connecting factor, and the UK moved to a residence-based system. At the same time, the FIG regime was introduced to give qualifying new UK residents temporary relief on certain foreign income and gains for up to four tax years.
No. HMRC says there is no cap on the amount of FIG relief you can claim while you are a qualifying new resident. But you must claim it separately for each source of foreign income and for each qualifying foreign gain you want relieved.
Making a mistake in the amount reported does not automatically invalidate your FIG claim. HMRC says that if you report the wrong figure for foreign income or gains, the claim can remain valid. If you are still within the amendment deadline, you may be able to correct it. If not, the amount you declared and claimed relief on will still be the relieved amount.
Yes. HMRC says that foreign income assessable under the Transfer of Assets Abroad provisions can qualify for relief under the FIG regime. This is useful to mention because many readers will assume anti-avoidance rules automatically block relief, but HMRC specifically says this type of income can still be eligible.
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