| Updated | November 2026, tax year 2026/27 |
| Departure | statutory residence test and split year, as for any departure from the UK |
| Five-year trap | return within five years and gains and distributions from your time away are taxed in the UK |
| UK property | stays taxable in the UK; report a sale within 60 days |
| Inheritance tax | convention with Ireland since 1978; none with Malta on HMRC's list |
| UK limited company | incorporated in the UK means UK resident in principle, wherever you run it from |
The UK side first, then the island
Malta and Ireland each have their own rules for newcomers, and they have nothing in common with the UK's. How Malta or Ireland tax you on arrival is a question for an adviser there, and you should put it to one before you sign a lease.
This page deals with what you leave behind in the UK. And that is more than many people think: after you leave, HMRC keeps an eye on your gains, your property, your estate and your company for years.
Departure: residence, split year, HMRC
For HMRC, Malta or Ireland is a departure like any other. The statutory residence test looks at each tax year on its own. If you were resident in one of the three previous years, you are safely non-resident with fewer than 16 days in the UK; otherwise your ties to the UK decide. In the year you leave, split year treatment can divide the year, for example if you give up your UK home and become tax resident in the new country within six months.
You tell HMRC with form P85 or, if you are in Self Assessment, on the SA109 residence pages. The whole process with every test and deadline is in leaving the UK.
Five years: why the timing of distributions matters
The temporary non-residence rules are the biggest trap for anyone moving to Malta or Ireland who keeps the option of coming back. They apply if you were solely UK resident in four of the seven tax years before the year you leave and stay away five years or less.
Come back within that time and HMRC taxes, in the year you return, among other things capital gains, certain pension payments and lump sums, and distributions from close companies from your time abroad. For business owners that means: empty your UK limited company through dividends from Malta or Ireland, sit in London again three years later, and you pay in the UK after all. You are only safe after five years and one day.
What stays in the UK: property, rent, investment income
A flat in Manchester or a house in Surrey stays taxable in the UK, even if you live in Sliema or Cork. Rent runs through the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme. On a sale you must report the disposal within 60 days, even with no tax and even at a loss. Tax treaties do not help with gains on UK residential property. The details are in selling UK property as a non-resident.
UK interest and dividends are mostly a non-issue for non-residents: HMRC limits the tax on this investment income to whatever was deducted at source. You can sell UK shares as a non-resident without UK capital gains tax, subject to the five-year rule above. You may keep your ISA, but not pay into it.
Inheritance tax: Ireland with a treaty, Malta without
If you were UK resident in 10 of the last 20 tax years, you are a long-term UK resident, and that status can carry on for up to 10 tax years after you leave. While it lasts, your assets in Malta or Ireland can fall into UK inheritance tax too. After that, your UK assets stay in the net: if you live abroad, you pay inheritance tax on UK assets such as property or UK bank accounts. How the new rules work as a whole is in our piece on UK inheritance tax.
The UK has an inheritance tax convention with Ireland, in force since 2 October 1978. It follows the usual pattern: the country of (fiscal) domicile may tax everything, the other only certain assets such as land in its territory. For Malta no such convention is on HMRC's list. That leaves unilateral relief: HMRC credits foreign tax on assets situated in that country.
Your UK limited company after the move
This is where the biggest misunderstanding lies. A company incorporated in the UK is in principle UK resident under UK law, wherever it is run from. According to HMRC's manual, central management and control now only decides residence for companies incorporated outside the UK (and a few exceptions). A director moving to Valletta or Dublin does not automatically make the company non-British.
If you actually run the company from Malta or Ireland, it can become resident there as well under local law. Then it is dual resident, and the tax treaty decides. HMRC takes the view that all UK treaties contain a company tie-breaker. If residence goes to the other country, the company is treated as non-resident for UK purposes (treaty non-resident). Under the modern standard tie-breaker the two tax authorities decide together; HMRC cannot settle it alone.
What counts is a question of fact. HMRC looks at the highest level of control and at where the key decisions are actually taken. For a one-person company that place can be wherever the shareholder-director actually runs the business. So if you want to run your company from abroad, you need a deliberate plan: keep it run from the UK, settle its residence under the treaty, or restructure. The mechanics are in the UK's tax treaties.
A company in Ireland or Malta serving customers in the UK is no self-runner. If it has an office or a branch in the UK, it pays UK corporation tax on the profits of its UK activity. And if it is in truth controlled from the UK, it can be UK resident under the central management and control test. Whether such a structure works on the island side is for advisers there; we check the UK side.
Frequently asked questions about moving from the UK to Malta or Ireland
Am I out of UK tax as soon as I move to Malta or Ireland?
Not automatically. The statutory residence test decides for each tax year, and split year treatment can divide the year you leave. UK income such as rent stays taxable in the UK, and if you return within five years HMRC catches up on certain gains.
Can I keep running my UK limited company from Malta or Ireland?
Yes, but as a company incorporated in the UK it stays UK resident in principle. If it also becomes resident in the new country, the tax treaty decides. Plan that before you move.
Does UK inheritance tax still apply after I leave?
For UK assets, always. For your other assets, as long as long-term UK resident status carries on, at most ten tax years. There is an inheritance tax convention with Ireland, none with Malta on HMRC's list.
Sources: HMRC: RDR3 Statutory Residence Test (SRT) notes; HMRC Residence and FIG regime manual: Temporary non-residence (RFIG21510, RFIG21560); GOV.UK: Tax on your UK income if you live abroad; GOV.UK: Capital Gains Tax on UK property or land if you're not a UK resident; HMRC: HS300 Non-residents and investment income (2026); GOV.UK: Inheritance Tax if you're a long-term UK resident; GOV.UK: Inheritance Tax Double Taxation Relief; HMRC International Manual: Company residence (INTM120030, INTM120040, INTM120060); HMRC International Manual: Treaty non-resident companies (INTM120070); GOV.UK: Corporation Tax
