Two Questions

[stevegreen]

We are finally nearing the time of departure for our first trip abroad in our new (to us) motorhome. Plan is to go for 6 months through France, into Spain and Portugal and then home for the end of June.

I understand that if you are out of the country for 6 months you don't pay tax on any income over that period............so first question, who do we need to tell that we are going to be out of the country for 6 months...........family excluded, we've kind of told them

Secondly, our headlights are currently 'very' right hand drive........will those need to be changed before entering France or can we get it done whilst we are there? They are round Fiat Ducatto (on a Hymer) lights and don't seem to have markings for the application of black stickers:Blush:

Thanks in advance!

Steve

 

[vwalan]

check with your local tax office .i tried a few years ago and was toldif you have a house here and uk is your address then no you cant get away with it. i used to work here for an agency. pay tax then a few weeks before leaving fill in a form at taxoffice sayig i was leaving to next april then i could claim most of the tax i had paid back. of course i had payed too much under the paye scheme . its based from week one as if you work 52 wks a year. have a word with your local office i find ours very helpfull .cheers alan.

 

[MikeandCarolyn]

Secondly, our headlights are currently 'very' right hand drive........will those need to be changed before entering France or can we get it done whilst we are there? They are round Fiat Ducatto (on a Hymer) lights and don't seem to have markings for the application of black stickers:Blush:
Steve

I bought a 'sticker kit' from Halfords and it had instructions for hundreds of different lights-might be worth asking them.

 

[billym]

I would not tell anyone if I was out of the country 6 months or more. The possibility of losing
NHS entitlement, doctor, questions about this that and the other, just not worth it in my opinion.

 

[pappajohn]

i wouldnt worry too much about headlamp markings for beam benders.

if you face the van to a wall (3 or 4 mtrs off) at night and set dip beam it will throw a defined pattern on the wall.
the pattern will be horizontal to the midway point then starts to rise up on the left hand side. (the rise is the bit that dazzles and the horizontal is the bit thats checked in an MOT for beam height)

apply a wedge shaped piece of tape to the lamp....pointed end to lamp center and bottom of tape horizontal.... until the light pattern is horizontal all the way across. ie...no raised bit on the left.
you'll need to experiment to find the correct position.

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[vwalan]

tell who you want .nhs is based on your contributions ,its possible to make up any rears missing . as to tax get it back better in your pocket than the tax mans. doctors will let you have 3 mnths prescriptions if required some allow 6 mths. not a problem. take no notice from ones that possibly never do it . i can assure you i do it just about every year . truth is the only law. tax and nhs arent stupid they know when you dont pay in . main thing is having a good time in the sun .see you on the road somewhere . as to your lights you may have up n down ones that dont dip to side. . cheers alan.

 

[scotjimland]

I agree with billym,

I know how many awkward questions I've been asked simply because I had no letter box for three years.. I was made to feel like an illegal.. don't make a rod for your own back and keep under the gov. radar ..

jim

 

[iceni]

Make sure your house insurance is covered as it may not cover you if your house is left unoccupied for more than 30 consecutive days.

Likewise make sure your travel ins covered you for the time you are away.
Phill

 

[theresa]

we dont tell anyone , did the first year and it caused to many problems . really it depends if you are on any benefits , pension credit etc , if you are it will be stopped if you tell them . tell them nothing , what the eye dont see the heart dont grieve , is what i say . oh i do tell our doctor he then gives us 3 months worth of pills :Blush::Blush:

 

[WillH]

Don't worry about NHS, its free anyway. NI contributions are for social security and pensions. As for tax, keep all your receipts from your time abroad, make sure you get one for every day, keep ferry tickets etc and when you return make your case to the revenue people.

Best of luck. Took me 7 years once to get a claim paid out.

Rgds
Bill

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[oldun]

My wife and I used to tour Europe for six months a year but now, due to difficulties getting travel insurance, we have more but shorter holidays. Now the trips are of the order of 2 - 3 months.

This year both my wife and I received letters from the DHSS pensions asking each of us to confirm the length of our last holiday abroad.

We were both surprised and bemused but the request.

I wonder why they have been checking up on us and for what reason>

 

[machilly]

We don't tell any government agency, we are registered to vote at Mother in Laws, to retain our doctor we use my mates address, for mail we have a PO Box, redirecing from our old address means the Post Office continues the service, with no awkward questions....I love fulltiming.

regards

 

[Sundowners]

If you are liable, you have to pay tax somewhere--------------Don't tell anyone that you will be away-----only those that are looking after your affairs back home.
Enjoy your trip
Nigel & Pamala

 

[lebesset]

you hear some amazing things ...don't pay tax if you are out of the country for more than 6 months ? don't make me laugh

tax law is extremely complex

do you have any accommodation reserved for your use in the uk ?
have you spent more than six months in the uk in the current tax year ?

in both these cases you will be liable for tax unless you are a registered as a tax payer in a country with a double taxation agreement with the uk , and you might be even then :Sad:

so don't bother telling anyone unless you are getting any benefit from the uk government ...if you don't tell them then you may be liable to conviction for fraud because you may have lost your entitlement

after 25 years I still don't think i know all the wrinkles

 

[scotjimland]

We don't tell any government agency, we are registered to vote at Mother in Laws, to retain our doctor we use my mates address, for mail we have a PO Box, redirecing from our old address means the Post Office continues the service, with no awkward questions....I love fulltiming.

regards

Hi, just a few questions..

1. what address do you use for:

a) van insurance company
b) van registration
c) driving license
e) bank
f) passport when renewing

2. The Post office redirect up to two years .. what do you do after that ?

3. Have you informed your insurance company that you are full time.

the reason I ask is that these were the difficulties we encountered when full timing.. I've not met anyone yet who had a way of doing it (full timing) without telling a few porkies..

cheers

jim

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[billym]

tell who you want .nhs is based on your contributions ,its possible to make up any rears missing . as to tax get it back better in your pocket than the tax mans. doctors will let you have 3 mnths prescriptions if required some allow 6 mths. not a problem. take no notice from ones that possibly never do it . i can assure you i do it just about every year . truth is the only law. tax and nhs arent stupid they know when you dont pay in . main thing is having a good time in the sun .see you on the road somewhere . as to your lights you may have up n down ones that dont dip to side. . cheers alan.

Alan.

Your post is irresponsible. From the few posts after yours you may get the idea that problems
do arise from " telling " anyone and everyone you are going away for long periods.

Please don't get the idea on here that you are the only one who ever goes anywhere.
You are not.

 

[stevegreen]

Thanks for the replies, most helpful.

As we are bopth currently out of work at the moment only my wife is receiving any benefit, my job seekers allowance ran out in October. She will have to 'sign off', as will I. There is then the question of NI Contributions.........needs to be looked into, there has been a suggestion that if we are away then we may have to pay the contibutions to secure our state pension (which will be worth close to nil by the time I reach retirement age).

The income tax issue in reality actually isn't one (an issue that is) as we will both be earning just over our personal allowance from house rental, so any tax bill will be small, and most likely offset by 'essential repairs'

We were hoping to be gone by now but have had no luck renting our house out as yet

 

[Emmit]

Greetings,
As far as your NI contributions are concerned, we (the UK) are just about to reduce the No. of years necessary to obtain a full state pension from 44 contributing years to 30 yrs.
In 2001 I retired from 'The Job' and at that time I had paid 37 contributing years.(In that year I worked just four months but that paid the contributions for the year)
I decided to pay the remaining 2 yrs en block (The Gov. pays for the last five years from 60 to 65yrs) with me so far?.
They announced the change down to 30yrs I think in May 2005.
As a result of me voluntarily paying them £706 before they made the announcement i 'lost' my £706 because I was stupid enough to give them my hard earned money.

Work out how many years you have paid but don't for goodness sake keep up with your payments as you go. The Gov allows you to pay your contribions for about five years in arrears. The downside to doing this is that you pay the contributions at the current rate, not the rate of the year that you owe.
Last but not least visit the below website. The Gov forecast people are brill and will get a forecast to you giving you all the information necessary.
Have a good time fulltiming

Regards
Getting a State Pension forecast : Directgov - Pensions and retirement planning