Bringing money from overseas into the UK

peaman

I have 2 clients with queries in respect of bringing monies into the UK. I am waiting for them to both reply to my request for further information to confirm their residence status (exact dates of leaving/returning), but whilst I was waiting I thought I would put the queries to the forum to see if any of you would have any experience and could give me some advice...

Client 1 - works abroad and has done for some time, in his words 'he has been outside the UK for long enough to not pay any tax here'. He is currently working in Kuala Lumpur and will start a new contract in Hong Kong soon. He wants to transfer monthly amounts (£3.5k) to his wife in the UK and a lump sum (£18k). I assume that if he is outside the UK for the whole tax year (less than 90 days in UK) he will qualify for Full Time Work Abroad (FTWA) and the payments will be tax free. Am I wrong?

Client 2 - UK residents went to live in Australia (and New Zealand) in 2008 and ran 2 businesses. They returned to the UK about a year ago and they now want to close the businesses in Australia & New Zealand and transfer any received funds to the UK. I am less sure about this one. They are now UK resident, so I am assuming tax on an arising basis!

Any advice would be appreciated.