The 4-Year FIG Regime 2026: How New UK Arrivals Are Taxed After the Remittance Basis Ended
Since April 2025, the remittance basis for non-doms has been replaced by the 4-year Foreign Income and Gains (FIG) regime. Here's who qualifies, what it offers, and what happens after year four.
What changed, and when
Before April 2025, individuals who were UK tax resident but non-UK domiciled ("non-doms") could elect for the remittance basis of taxation: broadly, their foreign income and gains were only taxed in the UK if and when they were remitted (brought into or used in) the UK. Keeping money offshore avoided UK tax on it, sometimes indefinitely, depending on domicile status and how long the remittance basis was claimed.
Who qualifies for the 4-year FIG regime
The regime is aimed at genuinely new arrivals to the UK tax system. Broadly, to qualify you need to have been non-UK tax resident for the 10 consecutive tax years immediately before the tax year in which you become UK resident. If you meet this test, you can claim the FIG regime for up to four consecutive years of UK tax residence from that point.
This is a meaningfully different qualifying mechanism from the old rules, which turned on your domicile status (a more nebulous, often long-term or lifelong concept tied to where you consider your permanent home to be) rather than a clean residence-based look-back period.
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Open Income Tax calculatorWhat the regime actually gives you
For each of the four qualifying tax years, individuals using the FIG regime can claim:
- 100% relief from UK tax on qualifying foreign income arising in that year.
- 100% relief from UK tax on qualifying foreign gains arising in that year.
The big practical change: no need to keep money offshore
The single most significant practical difference from the old remittance basis is that the FIG regime does not penalise bringing money into the UK. Under the old remittance basis, funds representing foreign income or gains had to stay outside the UK to avoid triggering a UK tax charge — creating complexity, offshore banking arrangements, and "mixed fund" tracing problems for anyone who wanted to actually spend their money in the UK.
Under the FIG regime, during your four qualifying years, you can remit foreign income and gains to the UK freely without an additional UK tax charge on the remittance itself. This removes a huge amount of the administrative and planning complexity that characterised remittance basis planning for decades.
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Open Capital Gains Tax calculatorWhat happens after year four
Once your four qualifying years of UK residence are used up, the favourable treatment ends. From that point, you are taxed as an ordinary UK tax resident — your worldwide income and gains, as they arise (not merely if remitted), fall within the scope of UK tax, in line with everyone else who is UK resident without any special regime applying.
This is a meaningful cliff-edge: there is no tapering or partial relief beyond the four years under this specific regime, so individuals need to plan around the point at which full UK taxation of worldwide income and gains begins.
Comparing old and new systems at a glance
| Feature | Old remittance basis | New 4-year FIG regime |
|---|---|---|
| Basis for eligibility | Non-UK domicile | 10 years' prior non-UK residence |
| Duration | Could run for many years (with an annual charge after a period) | Fixed at 4 years of UK residence |
| Treatment of foreign income/gains | Untaxed only if kept offshore (unremitted) | 100% relief regardless of remittance |
| Bringing money to the UK | Triggered a UK tax charge (remittance) | No additional charge during the 4-year window |
| What happens long-term | Increasingly restricted/charged the longer you stayed | Ends completely after year 4; ordinary UK taxation follows |
Who should pay close attention
- New arrivals to the UK who have genuinely spent the prior 10 tax years non-UK resident, and who have significant foreign income or gains, should establish early whether they qualify and plan their finances around the four-year window.
- Anyone who was already using the remittance basis before the April 2025 changes should check the specific transitional provisions that applied to them, since moving from the old system to the new one involved separate transitional rules not covered by the straightforward 4-year FIG mechanics described here.
- Given the complexity and the relatively recent implementation of these rules, professional cross-border tax advice is strongly recommended for anyone with substantial foreign income, gains, or existing offshore structures who is affected by the change.
The bottom line
The 4-year FIG regime marks a fundamental shift in how the UK taxes new arrivals with foreign income and gains — trading the old, domicile-based, indefinite-but-remittance-restricted system for a simpler, fully residence-based, time-limited one. For genuinely new arrivals, it can be considerably more generous during the four-year window (no need to keep funds offshore), but the fixed cut-off after year four means forward planning for the transition to full UK taxation is essential.
Frequently asked questions
What replaced the non-dom remittance basis?
From April 2025, the remittance basis of taxation for non-UK domiciled individuals was replaced by a new 4-year Foreign Income and Gains (FIG) regime, which offers 100% relief on qualifying foreign income and gains for the first four years of UK tax residence.
Who qualifies for the 4-year FIG regime?
New arrivals to the UK who have been non-UK tax resident for the 10 consecutive tax years immediately before the tax year they become UK resident can generally qualify, for their first four years of UK tax residence.
Do I still need to keep foreign income offshore under the FIG regime?
No — this is one of the biggest changes from the old remittance basis. Under the FIG regime, you can bring qualifying foreign income and gains into the UK freely during the four-year window without triggering a UK tax charge, unlike the old remittance basis where remitting funds to the UK triggered tax.
What happens after the four years end?
Once your four qualifying years of UK residence are used up, you're taxed as an ordinary UK resident on your worldwide income and gains going forward, in the same way as anyone else who is both UK resident and, from that point, treated as UK-taxed on arising foreign income.
Does the FIG regime cover both income and capital gains?
Yes, it's designed to give relief on both qualifying foreign income and qualifying foreign gains during the four-year window, replacing the separate income and capital gains elements of the old remittance basis regime.
Is this the same as the old non-dom status?
No. The concept of domicile-based remittance basis taxation has been removed for these purposes. The FIG regime is time-limited (four years) and residence-based rather than being tied indefinitely to a claim of non-UK domicile.
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