Tax relief for work days spent abroad
In your first 4 tax years in the UK after 10 years away, pay for days you work abroad can come out of UK income tax, up to 30% of your pay. But electing costs you the tax-free allowance. See if it's worth it.
Your answer
Tell us your pay and the days you work abroad.
About this calculator
For people who've moved to the UK, or come back after 10 years or more away, and work for an employer partly abroad: business trips, regional roles or a job that's still based overseas.
What happens to your answers
We don’t keep them. Your answers go to our server to do the sums and aren’t stored or logged. If you copy a link to your answers, they’re in the link itself, so only share it with people you trust.
How it’s worked out
From 6 April 2025, Overseas Workday Relief takes pay for work done outside the UK out of UK income tax for your first 4 tax years of UK residence, if you weren't UK resident in the 10 tax years before. HMRC usually splits your pay by work days: days abroad divided by all work days. The relief for a year is capped at the lower of 30% of your pay from the job or £300,000. The pay can go into a UK bank account: you no longer need to keep it offshore.
You elect for it on your tax return, and electing costs that year's tax-free allowance (personal allowance) and the tax-free amount for gains. We compare one year at 2026/27 rates for England, Wales and Northern Ireland: all your pay taxed with the allowance, against your pay less the relief taxed without it. National Insurance doesn't change, and we ignore any tax paid abroad.
Worked example
Electing could save about £1,372 of income tax for a year: £16,000 of your pay is relieved, saving £6,400, less £5,028 for the tax-free allowance you lose.
Qualifying new resident · 48 of 240 days abroad · 2026/27 rates · England, Wales or NI
| Pay from the job for the year | £80,000 |
|---|---|
| Days worked abroad, of days worked in the year | 48 of 240 |
| Pay for days abroad | £16,000 |
| Limit: lower of 30% of your pay or £300,000 | £24,000 |
| Pay relieved | £16,000 |
| Not electing: tax-free allowance | £12,570 |
| Income tax if you don't elect | £19,432 |
| Electing: tax-free allowance lost | £0 |
| Electing: pay taxed after the relief | £64,000 |
| Income tax if you elect | £18,060 |
| Tax saved on the pay relieved | £6,400 |
| Extra tax from losing the tax-free allowance | £5,028 |
| Electing saves | £1,372 |
| National Insurance on all your pay (the relief doesn't change it) | £3,611 |
Based on HMRC's guidance on Overseas Workday Relief from 6 April 2025, at 2026/27 rates.
Questions people ask
Do I still need to keep the money offshore?
No. Since 6 April 2025 the relief applies whether your pay goes into a UK or an overseas account, and you can bring it to the UK without a tax charge. Pay for years before April 2025 under the old rules still has to stay offshore.
Does it reduce my National Insurance?
No. The relief is for income tax only. National Insurance follows its own rules, which depend on where your employer is and any social security agreement with that country.
Can I claim for some years and not others?
Yes. You choose year by year within your 4 years. If you don't elect for a year, you can never claim relief on that year's pay, even if it's paid to you later.
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