South African Expat Tax UK: What SA Expats in Britain Owe

If you’re a South African living and working in the UK, you probably think you only deal with HMRC. You pay your UK tax, you file your Self Assessment, and that’s that. But here’s what most South Africans in Britain don’t realise: SARS may still consider you a tax resident, which means you could owe tax in South Africa on the money you earn in the UK. This is what South African expat tax UK is all about.

The good news is that South Africa and the UK have a Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) that stops you from being taxed twice on the same income. But the DTA doesn’t work automatically. You need to understand it, file correctly, and claim the right relief. This guide explains the whole thing in plain English.

Do You Still Owe SARS Tax While Living in the UK?

It depends on one thing: are you still a South African tax resident?

South Africa uses a residence-based tax system. That means if SARS considers you a tax resident, they tax you on your worldwide income, no matter where you earn it. Living in London or Manchester doesn’t change that. Having a UK visa doesn’t change that. Even having Indefinite Leave to Remain or a British passport doesn’t change that.

The only things that end your South African tax obligation are:

• Formally ceasing tax residency with SARS (updating your RAV01 on eFiling and submitting documentation)
• Being deemed exclusively resident in the UK under the tie-breaker rules in the SA-UK Double Taxation Agreement
• Failing the physical presence test and not being ordinarily resident

If you haven’t done any of these, SARS still considers you a resident. And that means you need to declare your UK income to SARS every year. For a full breakdown of how residency works, see our guide to the South African tax residency test.

How the UK-South Africa Double Taxation Agreement Works

The UK-South Africa DTA has been in force since 2002 (with a protocol update in 2011 and further modifications under the Multilateral Instrument). It’s the single most important piece of legislation for understanding your South African expat tax UK obligations. Its job is simple: make sure you don’t pay tax twice on the same income.

Here’s how it works in practice for a South African working in the UK:

The UK gets first right to tax your employment income. If you’re physically working in the UK, HMRC taxes your salary through PAYE. That’s straightforward.

South Africa still wants to know about it. If you’re still a SA tax resident, you must declare your UK salary on your SARS return. You can’t just leave it off because you paid UK tax on it.

You claim a foreign tax credit to avoid paying twice. Under Section 6quat of the SA Income Tax Act, you can offset the UK tax you’ve already paid against your SA tax liability on the same income. This means you’re effectively taxed at the higher of the two countries’ rates, but you never pay tax twice on the same pound.

The R1.25 Million Exemption for SA Expats in the UK

If you’re still a South African tax resident working as an employee in the UK, the first R1.25 million of your foreign employment income is exempt from SA tax. This is the Section 10(1)(o)(ii) exemption. But you must meet all the conditions:

• You must be an employee (not self-employed, not a contractor, not a freelancer)
• You must spend at least 183 full days outside South Africa in any 12-month period within the tax year
• Of those 183 days, at least 60 must be continuous (in a row, no breaks)

For most South Africans living full-time in the UK, the 183/60-day requirement is easy to meet. You’re in the UK all year. The tricky part is understanding what happens above R1.25 million.

What If You Earn More Than R1.25 Million?

Anything above R1.25 million is taxable in South Africa at your normal marginal rate. At current exchange rates (roughly R23 to the pound), a UK salary of about £55,000 already puts you above the exemption. That’s a fairly standard professional salary in the UK for an experienced South African.

The R1.25 million threshold has been frozen since 2020. It hasn’t been adjusted for inflation or currency movements. Every year, more South Africans in the UK exceed it simply because the rand has weakened, not because they’re earning more in real terms. For the full breakdown of how this exemption works, see our complete South African expat tax guide.

UK Tax vs SA Tax: Which Rates Are Higher?

This matters because the DTA credit means you effectively pay the higher of the two rates. Here’s a rough comparison for the 2026/2027 tax year:

At lower UK salaries, there’s usually no extra SA tax to pay because the income falls under the R1.25M exemption. At higher salaries, SA rates can be slightly higher than UK rates on the excess, meaning you’d owe SARS a small top-up after crediting your UK tax. The gap narrows significantly above £100,000 because the UK’s personal allowance taper pushes effective UK rates up sharply.

What About Dividends, Interest, and Rental Income?

The DTA and exemption rules above apply to employment income only. Other types of income have different rules.

UK dividends. If you own shares in UK companies and receive dividends, those are taxable in South Africa if you’re still a SA tax resident. SARS allows a partial exemption (25/45 of the rand value) and a credit for any UK dividend tax paid.

UK interest. Interest from UK bank accounts is taxable in South Africa for residents. There’s no exempt portion for foreign interest (unlike local interest). You can deduct any UK tax withheld.

UK rental income. If you own property in the UK and rent it out, both HMRC and SARS want to tax that income. The DTA gives the UK first taxing right, and you claim a credit in SA for the UK tax paid.

UK pension income. This one is complicated. If you receive a UK workplace pension while living in SA (or after returning), SARS generally taxes it as employment income. The DTA’s pension article determines which country gets the primary taxing right, and it depends on the type of pension. Get specific advice on this.

The South African Expat Tax UK Question Everyone Asks

If you spend any time in South African expat groups in the UK, you’ll see the same question over and over: “I’ve been in the UK for 7 years and never told SARS. Am I in trouble?”

The honest answer is: it depends. If you’ve been paying UK tax on your UK salary the whole time, and your income was under R1.25 million, you probably don’t owe SARS anything in actual tax. But you may still have a filing obligation. SARS expects tax residents to file annual returns even if no tax is due.

If your income was above R1.25 million and you never declared it, you potentially owe SARS tax plus interest plus penalties for non-filing. The good news is the Voluntary Disclosure Programme exists to help you come forward with reduced penalties. And SARS recently made it possible to update your eFiling contact details remotely using biometric verification, so even if you’ve been locked out of your profile for years, there’s now a way back in.

The worst thing you can do is nothing. With the Common Reporting Standard, HMRC and SARS share information about financial accounts held by each other’s tax residents. SARS can see that you have UK bank accounts and income. Coming forward yourself is always cheaper than waiting for them to find you.

Should You Stay a SA Tax Resident or Cease Residency?

This is the big question for every South African in the UK. There’s no single right answer because it depends on your income, your assets, and your plans.

Staying a SA tax resident makes sense if:

• Your UK income is under R1.25 million (roughly under £55,000) so you owe SARS nothing extra
• You plan to return to South Africa eventually
• You have significant investments that would trigger a large SARS exit tax bill
• You want to keep contributing to a South African retirement annuity with full tax deductibility

Ceasing residency makes sense if:

• Your income is well above R1.25 million and you’re paying extra tax to SARS every year
• You’ve permanently settled in the UK with no realistic plan to return
• Your exit tax bill is manageable relative to the annual tax savings
• You want a clean break from SARS filing obligations on worldwide income

If you decide to cease residency, you’ll need to go through the formal SARS process. Our guide to ceasing tax residency walks through every step. And be aware that ceasing residency triggers exit tax on your worldwide assets and starts the 3-year clock for accessing your retirement annuity from abroad.

Practical Steps for SA Expats in the UK

Here’s what you should actually do to get your South African expat tax UK situation sorted, step by step:

1. Figure out your tax residency status. Are you still a SA tax resident? If you’ve never told SARS you left, you almost certainly are. Read our tax residency test guide to confirm.

2. If you’re still a SA resident, file your SARS returns. Declare your UK income, claim the R1.25 million exemption (if you qualify), and claim the Section 6quat foreign tax credit for any UK tax paid on income above the exemption.

3. Keep records of your days outside South Africa. Passport stamps, boarding passes, employer travel records. You need these to prove the 183/60-day requirement for the exemption.

4. Get a UK tax residency certificate if you need one. You can request this from HMRC. It’s useful for claiming DTA benefits and for proving your status to SARS if you ever cease residency.

5. Decide whether to cease residency or stay. Run the numbers. If you’re paying SARS thousands extra every year and you’re not going back, ceasing residency might make financial sense. If your income is under the exemption and you might return, staying resident is simpler.

6. If you’ve been non-compliant, fix it. The Voluntary Disclosure Programme gives you a way to come clean with reduced penalties. A SARS-registered tax practitioner who understands both UK and SA tax can help you work through the backlog.

Common South African Expat Tax UK Mistakes

Thinking that paying UK tax means you don’t owe SARS anything. Wrong. If you’re still a SA tax resident, you must declare your worldwide income to SARS. The UK tax you paid is a credit, not a replacement.

Assuming the DTA works automatically. It doesn’t. You need to actively claim the relief on your SA return. If you don’t file, SARS doesn’t know you’ve paid UK tax and can’t give you the credit.

Confusing tax residency with citizenship or immigration status. Your UK visa, ILR, or British passport has nothing to do with SARS. Tax residency is determined by SARS’s own tests (ordinarily resident and physical presence). You can be a British citizen and still be a SA tax resident.

Not knowing about the R1.25 million cap. Many South Africans in the UK still think all foreign employment income is exempt. It’s not. Only the first R1.25 million qualifies, and only if you’re an employee who meets the 183/60-day test.

Ignoring it for years and hoping SARS won’t notice. SARS and HMRC share data through the Common Reporting Standard. Your UK bank accounts are visible to SARS. Ignoring the problem just makes it more expensive to fix later.

Where to Get Help

• SARS for official guidance, eFiling, and the cessation process
• HMRC for the UK-SA DTA text and UK tax residency certificates
• A tax practitioner who specialises in SA-UK cross-border tax (look for someone registered with both SARS and a UK professional body)