Financial planning support for UK tax advisers
UK tax advice often creates the framework for a client's cross-border financial decisions.
A client may be leaving the UK, returning after years abroad, becoming eligible for the FIG regime, accessing a pension overseas or restructuring investments before a change of residence.
Josh Clancey works alongside UK tax advisers where those tax conclusions need to be translated into practical decisions around pensions, investments, retirement planning, cash flow and implementation.
Turning tax advice into an implementable financial plan
The roles should remain distinct.
The tax adviser establishes the client's UK tax position, including residence, applicable reliefs, treaty considerations and the tax consequences of proposed transactions.
Josh's role is to help the client understand what those conclusions mean for their wider financial plan.
This might involve reviewing investments before a return to the UK, modelling pension withdrawals, considering how retirement assets fit together across jurisdictions or implementing an investment strategy once the relevant tax position has been established.
That separation is particularly important in internationally mobile cases, where residence, pensions, investments and estate considerations frequently interact.
Client situations where tax and financial planning commonly intersect
A client is returning to the UK
A returning client may need to review overseas investments, pensions, cash, retirement accounts and future income planning before UK residence begins.
HMRC's current FIG regime can provide qualifying new UK residents with relief on eligible foreign income and gains during their first four years of UK residence following at least ten consecutive tax years of non-UK residence.
A client is leaving the UK
Departure planning may involve more than establishing non-residence.
The client's pensions, investments, property, future withdrawals and expected return timetable may all affect the wider planning.
Residence is not straightforward
The UK Statutory Residence Test considers automatic overseas tests, automatic UK tests and the sufficient ties test, with each tax year considered separately.
Financial decisions should not be made on an assumed residence position where the tax analysis remains unresolved.
A non-resident client is accessing a UK pension
The tax treatment of a UK pension can depend on residence and the relevant double-taxation agreement.
HMRC notes that pension income may be taxable in the UK, the country of residence or both depending on the treaty, with relief potentially available to prevent double taxation.
A client may be temporarily non-resident
A client who leaves the UK and later returns may fall within temporary non-residence provisions affecting certain gains, pension payments and other income arising during the period abroad.
A client's UK tax position affects their investment strategy
Once the tax position has been established, the client may still need to decide which investments to retain, restructure or replace and how those assets should support their wider objectives.
Questions that often need to be established
What is the client's current and expected UK residence position?
Financial planning should normally follow the tax analysis rather than anticipate it.
Is the client leaving or entering the UK?
Timing can materially affect which assets, pensions and investment arrangements need to be reviewed.
Does the client qualify for the FIG regime?
Where applicable, the tax position may influence the timing and structure of financial decisions during the client's first years back in the UK. HMRC confirms the regime replaced the remittance basis from 6 April 2025.
Has the client been non-UK resident long enough for temporary non-residence to be irrelevant?
A planned return can change the analysis of transactions undertaken while overseas.
What pensions does the client hold?
UK pensions, overseas pensions and US retirement accounts can create different tax and financial-planning considerations.
Are there existing investment structures that need reviewing?
The tax treatment may be only one part of the question. Cost, access, investment suitability, currency and future retirement objectives may also matter.
Where does the client expect to retire?
Residence at retirement can affect pension taxation, investment withdrawals, estate planning and currency requirements.
Professional resources for UK tax advisers
The Document Centre includes technical briefs, professional guides and practical checklists covering UK residence, the FIG regime, temporary non-residence, inheritance tax, UK pensions, returning to the UK, leaving the UK and international investment planning.
These resources are designed to support professional client work and highlight the points where specialist financial planning may need to sit alongside tax advice.
Useful resources for UK tax advisers
The Professional Adviser's Guide to UK Residence, the FIG Regime and Inheritance Tax
A broader professional guide covering the main planning issues affecting internationally mobile clients entering or leaving the UK.
The UK Statutory Residence Test for Internationally Mobile Clients
A focused technical resource covering the residence framework relevant to internationally mobile clients.
The FIG Regime and Investment Planning for UK Returners
A technical brief examining the financial-planning issues that can follow once a client's FIG eligibility and tax position have been established.
Temporary Non-Residence and Pension Withdrawals
A technical brief covering the planning considerations where a client leaves the UK, accesses pension benefits and later returns.
Professional Guide to British Clients Leaving the UK
A practical guide to the financial-planning decisions that may arise before and after UK departure.
Client Leaving the UK Checklist
A practical checklist for identifying the financial-planning areas that may need review before departure.
Working from the tax analysis already completed
Where the client's tax adviser has established the relevant position, Josh can use that analysis as an input into the financial plan.
For example:
- the tax adviser establishes whether the client will be UK resident, while Josh reviews pensions, investments and cash flow around the move
- the tax adviser determines whether the FIG regime applies, while Josh considers how the client's investment and retirement arrangements should be managed within that framework
- the tax adviser confirms the treatment of a pension withdrawal, while Josh models how much the client should draw and how that income fits within the wider retirement strategy
- the tax adviser assesses temporary non-residence implications, while Josh reviews the timing and financial consequences of investment or pension decisions
- the tax adviser advises on treaty treatment, while Josh helps implement the resulting retirement-income or investment plan
The objective is to avoid duplication and keep technical tax analysis with the professional responsible for it.
Pension taxation and treaty coordination
Pensions are a particularly common point of intersection.
A non-UK resident may still have UK-source pension income, while the country of residence may also assert taxing rights.
HMRC notes that many UK double-taxation agreements allocate taxing rights over private pensions to the country of residence, but exceptions exist and the relevant treaty must be checked. GOV.UK
This is a good example of why financial planning should follow the tax analysis.
Once the tax treatment has been established, the client may still need to decide:
- whether and when to access the pension
- how much income to draw
- whether consolidation is appropriate
- how pension assets fit with other investments
- how currency affects retirement spending
- how beneficiaries should be coordinated
- how the pension contributes to the client's wider retirement plan
Where Josh's role ends
Josh does not replace the client's tax adviser.
He does not determine a client's residence position, interpret a treaty on behalf of the client or provide specialist tax advice outside his professional remit.
Where a financial recommendation depends on UK tax treatment, the relevant position should be established by the client's tax adviser.
Josh can then incorporate that advice into the client's pension, investment, retirement and wider financial plan.
Technical briefings for tax teams
Josh can provide focused briefings for tax teams working with internationally mobile clients.
Topics can include UK residence and the FIG regime, clients leaving or returning to the UK, international pensions, temporary non-residence, US-connected clients and cross-border retirement planning.
Have a client case you would like to discuss?
If your tax work has highlighted a pension, investment, retirement or wider financial-planning issue, an initial discussion can help establish whether Josh is likely to add value.
There is no requirement to make a formal introduction simply to determine whether the case falls within his remit.