Income Tax Basics For International Students In The UK

For many international students, the prospect of coming to learn in the UK is not only exciting because it exposes them to high quality education, but also because it gives them an opportunity to work and study at the same time.

According to the UK immigration and labor laws, if you have a student’s visa, you are legally allowed to work in the UK for up to 20 hours a week when the term is in session. You are Kamagra jelly also allowed to work when the term is not in session. However, you are not allowed to run a business, be self-employed, take up a permanent full time position or provide professional services on a student visa.

Understanding the limits of your ability to work in the UK as a student will help you to better figure out how you will handle tax issues.

Income for Maintenance

In most cases, students will bring with them income from outside the UK for the sole purpose of ensuring that they will be able to study comfortably. This income usually comes from family members, personal savings, scholarships and bursaries, and from fundraising events. However, there are times when the students themselves may own assets in their home countries and they may be receiving income in the forms of dividends, interest, and rent. Basically, this income is assumed to be for maintenance. This means that it is what the student uses for his or her own upkeep, say in the payment of rent, transport, books, and food among others.

In case the student brings in more than what is required for upkeep (15, 000 pounds,) then it is assumed that the income is not just for upkeep. The extra amount is supposed to be taxed. For example, assume that someone comes from India with 35,000 pounds. If he files the tax returns, he may be required to pay taxes on the extra 20,000 pounds. But before you rush to pay taxes on your extra amount, it is important that you first make an effort and see whether you are receiving the money from a country with a double taxation agreement with the UK. If they do, then you do not have to pay the taxes. If they don’t then you have any choice. At times, the income that you receive may be more than 15,000 pounds but it will still not be taxable. This case mainly arises when the extra amount is to be used for tuition and other educational costs.

Conclusion

It can be a bit unnerving to come into the UK as a student and then start worrying about having to file tax returns. The good news however is that the revenue commission is not an overzealous institution that seeks to see where you will fall. As long as you try your best to tow the line, you can be sure that you won’t be in any tax related tussle.

Author Bio: Want to learn more aboutclaiming tax back when leaving the UK? Find out if you are due a leaving UK tax rebate.

Category: Finance/Taxes
Keywords: types of taxes, tax rates

Leave a Reply