Forgot to Declare Your Foreign Income in the UK?

Here’s How Expats Can Fix It with the Worldwide Disclosure Facility

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Living and working in the UK as an expat comes with a unique set of challenges—and tax compliance is often one of the most overlooked. One common issue we encounter with international clients is the failure to declare foreign income or assets to HMRC or failure to claim remittance basis or FIG scheme. Whether it's overseas rental income, interest from foreign bank accounts, dividends from non-UK companies, you must declare and tax this income or claim special tax status to exempt the income from taxation.


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The Worldwide Disclosure Facility (WDF) offers a route for UK tax residents—including expats—to voluntarily disclose previously undeclared foreign income and settle any outstanding tax liabilities.

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📑 Declare or Exempt? The Importance of Reporting Your Foreign Income

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As an expat living in the UK, you generally have two main options when it comes to foreign income:



Declare and Tax Your Worldwide Income – This means including all your foreign income (such as overseas rent, dividends, bank interest, pensions, or capital gains) in your UK self-assessment tax return. You may be eligible for foreign tax credit relief if tax was already paid in the country of origin, preventing double taxation.


Use the Foreign Income Exemption Scheme (FIG) – If you qualify, you can exempt foreign incomes and gains from taxation in the UK for up to four tax years. To be eligible, you must have been non-resident for UK tax purposes for ten consecutive years prior to the year of relocation.


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However, and this is crucial, even if you are exempt from paying tax on your foreign income, you are still required to declare it to HMRC through your self-assessment tax return or via the appropriate disclosure route. Simply omitting the income because you believe it’s exempt can trigger penalties or investigations.

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🔍 What Is the Worldwide Disclosure Facility?

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The Worldwide Disclosure Facility is an HMRC initiative that allows individuals and companies to voluntarily disclose previously unreported offshore income and assets. It's designed to encourage taxpayers to come forward before HMRC discovers the issue through its own investigations.


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The facility became more important after 2017, when HMRC started receiving data from over 100 countries under the Common Reporting Standard (CRS). This global transparency makes it much easier for HMRC to detect offshore non-compliance.

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✅ Benefits of Using the WDF

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By voluntarily using the WDF, you can often benefit from:


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• Reduced penalties for non-compliance (compared to prompted or criminal investigations)
• Certainty about your tax position and peace of mind going forward


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Disclosures made through the WDF must be complete and accurate and usually involve submitting at least four years of tax information (sometimes up to 20 years depending on circumstances).

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📝 What Does the Disclosure Process Involve?

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Here's a simplified overview:


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1. Notify HMRC that you wish to make a worldwide disclosure.
2. Gather financial information for each tax year.
3. Calculate your tax liability for each year (a tax adviser can help here).
4. Submit your disclosure and pay what you owe, including any interest and penalties (which are often reduced for voluntary disclosures).

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⏳ Don’t Wait for HMRC to Find You

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HMRC has ramped up its use of data matching, international bank account information, and property letting platforms (like Airbnb and letting agents) to identify undeclared foreign income. The longer you leave it, the higher the risk and potential cost.

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Making a proactive disclosure via the WDF is the smart, responsible way to correct past errors and avoid the stress and penalties of an HMRC investigation.

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💼 How We Can Help

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As tax specialists working with foreigners in the UK, we help expats navigate the Worldwide Disclosure Facility and Self-Assessment process with confidence and clarity. Our services include:


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• Reviewing your historic foreign income
• Calculating any tax owed and preparing backdated returns
• Managing the disclosure to HMRC on your behalf
• Negotiating payment arrangements, where appropriate
• Ensuring ongoing compliance for future tax years


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Wherever you receive income from —our team can manage the entire process remotely, with minimal disruption to your life abroad.

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🧭 Final Thoughts

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HMRC’s access to international financial data means that undisclosed foreign income is more likely to be discovered than ever before. If you’ve missed declaring any overseas income or assets, don’t wait for a letter from HMRC. 



Using the Worldwide Disclosure Facility now can save you stress, money, and potential legal trouble.


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You’ve made the UK your home—let us help you make your tax affairs just as settled