What happens to my Shares ISA if I move to Singapore?

[Rob_35]

Hello All,

My first post. I am looking to relocate to Singapore for work (from the UK) and I wondered what are the tax implications regarding my existing Shares ISA?

I have a number of years contributions in it and it is currently a mixture of various stocks (I pick my own shares) and a bit of cash waiting to be invested when the right opportunity comes up. The total in it is about £60k worth of cash and stocks at present.

I am aware that I can continue to hold my shares ISA whilst working abroad, but that I can't make any new contributions to it whilst I'm living outside the UK.

My question is that if I were to move to Singa in summer 2013, from that point on, would I have to declare it in Singapore as worldwide income and then obviously have to pay tax on any gains as long as I live in Singa? If so, what sort of percentage rate are the gains likely to be taxed at?

Many thanks for any replies...

Rob

[Mi Amigo]

Hello All,

My first post. I am looking to relocate to Singapore for work (from the UK) and I wondered what are the tax implications regarding my existing Shares ISA?

I have a number of years contributions in it and it is currently a mixture of various stocks (I pick my own shares) and a bit of cash waiting to be invested when the right opportunity comes up. The total in it is about £60k worth of cash and stocks at present.

I am aware that I can continue to hold my shares ISA whilst working abroad, but that I can't make any new contributions to it whilst I'm living outside the UK.

My question is that if I were to move to Singa in summer 2013, from that point on, would I have to declare it in Singapore as worldwide income and then obviously have to pay tax on any gains as long as I live in Singa? If so, what sort of percentage rate are the gains likely to be taxed at?

Many thanks for any replies...

Rob

I haven't seen anything written specifically about ISAs, but fundamentally the situation is that any assets and income in the UK are normally a matter for the UK tax authorities, and not of interest to IRAS (the Singapore tax authority). There is a tax treaty between the two countries that covers this.

For example, I have to file a UK tax return in connection with rental income from a house in the UK, and therefore I don't have to declare it in Singapore. Since the whole purpose of an ISA is to have a tax-free savings / investment vehicle, I'd think that you wouldn't need to do anything in either country, unless you have other income in the UK that would necessitate filing a tax return there. Your best bet on that front would be to confirm with HMRC, but I don't think you'd need to do anything here in relation to the ISA.

[Taitaiwife]

We have been here for 7 years now and I am in a similar situation with a mixture of share ISAs back in the UK.

Happily, Singapore is a capital gains tax free zone. Profits from shares and the like are generally considered personal investments (unless you are some kind of mega trader) and not subject to capital gains tax. Likewise, overseas income is generally not taxed.

You can verify specifics by checking on the IRAS website (Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore).

So I didn't do anything with my ISAs, just left them there doing their thing. Occasionally I've had to reinvest some of the existing ISA capital online (when one of my holdings got bought out), but as it's in an ISA wrapper there were no tax implications on the UK side either.

As Singapore has such favourable tax conditions I can highly recommend setting up an local online brokerage account when you get here. Although ISAs are off limits, you can continue to buy shares here on worldwide exchanges without worrying about capital gains tax.