Domicile of Choice

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Frivolous

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Mr. X is 60 years old living in his own residence and working full-time in Ireland. On his last tax return he indicated that he was domiciled in Ireland. He was born in the UK and worked and lived in the UK for 20 years - the rest of the time mostly in Ireland. He now feels that being domiciled in the UK would be much more preferable for tax purposes. Could he reasonably argue that his country of domicile is now the UK? Although he has no property or employment in the UK could he argue that his intention on retirement is to move back permanently to the UK and therefore claim to be UK domiciled?
 
I don't think it's as easy as saying "I am planning to move back to the UK", especially as he has claimed to be domiciled in Ireland on his tax returns

Why does he think it would be better?

Is most of his income coming from Ireland, from UK, from abroad?
 
Some big info not in your questions - where was his father born/fathers nationality? What is Mr X nationality/ passport?
So he has been in Ireland for 40/60 years with no current UK ties or assets and previously declared himself as domiciled in Ireland.

Domicile isn't a black and white thing like residency is but you're asking could he argue that his intention is to move permanently back to UK - the answer is yes, he could argue that if he has some genuine evidence to support that - but you are not mentioning any of the evidence to support that above.
 
Start with basics
Domicile of origin- Is the domicile of his father at time Mr X was born assuming parents were married at time of birth.
He would keep this unless he acquires a new domicile. Depending on his ties to Ireland and UK over the last 40 years. He may not have acquired an Irish domicile.
 
Mr. X's father was born in Ireland so Domicile of Origin is Ireland. He has significant unrealised capital gains in the UK. He also has dual Irish/British nationality. He would have a major CGT liability in Ireland were he to realise those gains - a lot of the gains would be CGT exempt if he were to realise them while domiciled in the UK.
 
If he wishes to claim UK domicile, he would have to move to the UK and stay there permanently.
 
Sophrosyne said:
If he wishes to claim UK domicile, he would have to move to the UK and stay there permanently
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Can you expand on why you believe this to be true? It's different to how I see it.

His original domicile is UK. If it is to change to anything other than UK domicile then he has to show that he intends to live permanently in Ireland (in this case) and definitely does not intend to return to the UK. He still has much of his wealth in the UK. We haven't all the information to decide if he intends to live permanently in Ireland - really only he knows that, ( and then there are some facts that either support it - e.g friend and family ties, UK pension or make it more questionable.)

I'm sure there are professionals out there who will assess all his facts and confirm that he hasn't yet officially changed his domicile from UK - he can then defend any questions that arise from revenue if they do (given he's previously filled it in as Irish domiciled)
 
Farma1 said:
Can you expand on why you believe this to be true? It's different to how I see it.

His original domicile is UK. If it is to change to anything other than UK domicile then he has to show that he intends to live permanently in Ireland (in this case) and definitely does not intend to return to the UK. He still has much of his wealth in the UK. We haven't all the information to decide if he intends to live permanently in Ireland - really only he knows that, ( and then there are some facts that either support it - e.g friend and family ties, UK pension or make it more questionable.)

I'm sure there are professionals out there who will assess all his facts and confirm that he hasn't yet officially changed his domicile from UK - he can then defend any questions that arise from revenue if they do (given he's previously filled it in as Irish domiciled)
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The OP has confirmed that Mr X's father was Irish, so it is likely, or at least possible, that he was still Irish domiciled at the time of Mr X's birth (as would most of the Irish that emigrated to the UK in the mid-20th century, for want of jobs / opportunity in Ireland, at the time of starting a family).

If that's the case, then Mr X would have an Irish domicile of origin. It's not entirely clear which 20 years of his life Mr X spent in the UK, but logic and common sense would suggest that a person with an Irish domicile of origin, who has spent 40 of their 60 years living and / or working in Ireland, is unlikely to have shed their domicile of origin for a UK domicile of choice.

If, on the other hand, Mr X had a UK domicile of origin (which would only be the case if his Irish father had somehow acquired a UK domicile of choice by the time of Mr X's birth), then it's quite possible he would retain it, if he has retained substantial links with the UK despite time spent living and working in Ireland.

One question I'd ask of Mr X is, where is his father buried, or if he's still alive, where does he now live?
 
Mr X’s 60 years have been made up of 20 years in the UK, 36 years in Ireland and 4 years elsewhere - the last 18 years to date - living in Ireland. Mr. X’s father was Irish born and spent most of his life in Ireland and had an Irish passport. (Mr.X’s Mother was born in the UK but I’m not sure that’s relevant). The Father is buried in Ireland (do you think that’s really relevant?). Mr X’s arguments for being UK Domiciled would be based on 1) his UK birthright, 2) his 20 years of living, studying and working there, 3) his sibling living in the UK and his desire to spend his retirement and the rest of his days close to his sibling. His sole private pension is as an ex-employee of a UK Company. He also retains non-property assets and bank accounts in the UK.
 
Okay so from what you've said it seems quite clear that Mr X's father always retained his Irish domicile, and thus Mr X had an Irish domicile of origin.

The question then, is whether Mr X has shed that domicile of origin in favour of a UK domicile of choice at any point. The Devil's in the detail there and professional advice based on a thorough analysis of the facts / history, would be required. However, I wouldn't be very confident that he has, based on what you've outlined thus far. One's domicile of origin is quite "sticky".

The fact that Mr X has presumably been filing his returns as Irish domiciled for much more than just one year, would also argue against a change of mind at this late stage in the game. If he genuinely believed he were non-domiciled, any UK-sourced income from whatever assets he has there, would not be taxable in Ireland unless the monies were remitted here; his self-assessment declaration that he was taxable here on all of his income, in circumstances where any putative argument would centre on his intentions and beliefs, is somewhat undermined by the fact that he's never reflected it in his tax filings.
 
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Farma1 said:
Can you expand on why you believe this to be true? It's different to how I see it.

His original domicile is UK. If it is to change to anything other than UK domicile then he has to show that he intends to live permanently in Ireland (in this case) and definitely does not intend to return to the UK. He still has much of his wealth in the UK. We haven't all the information to decide if he intends to live permanently in Ireland - really only he knows that, ( and then there are some facts that either support it - e.g friend and family ties, UK pension or make it more questionable.)

I'm sure there are professionals out there who will assess all his facts and confirm that he hasn't yet officially changed his domicile from UK - he can then defend any questions that arise from revenue if they do (given he's previously filled it in as Irish domiciled)
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The question posed by the OP was whether Mr X could claim to be UK domiciled.

See this, which outlines UK case law – Irish case law is similar.

The principal factors in determining domicile of choice are firstly, residence in the new jurisdiction and secondly, an intention to reside there permanently.

The case law in the above link shows the evidence, which might be sought to support Mr. X’s claim.

It is then up to Mr X to decide whether his claim is worth pursuing.
 
I believe that Lord Westbury’s assertion opens the door to choice/intention being a crucial factor - “ In my judgement the true test is whether he intends to make his home in the new country until the end of his days unless and until something happens to make him change his mind.”

Notwithstanding the fact that due to his Father’s domicile being Irish - giving Mr. X an Irish domicile of Origin - I wonder would the courts today be more inclined to take the Mother’s UK domicile into account in determining the domicile of origin? Is it not discriminatory to completely ignore the Mothers’s domicile? Maybe another Referendum is needed .
 
Sophrosyne said:
The question posed by the OP was whether Mr X could claim to be UK domiciled.

See this, which outlines UK case law – Irish case law is similar.

The principal factors in determining domicile of choice are firstly, residence in the new jurisdiction and secondly, an intention to reside there permanently.

The case law in the above link shows the evidence, which might be sought to support Mr. X’s claim.

It is then up to Mr X to decide whether his claim is worth pursuing.
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Apologies - I'm not sure how, but I mistakenly read that his father was from UK - hence my post.
 
I wish there was a 'shared domicile' as so many people with mixed backgrounds nowadays. My parents were born in UK but I was born here but especially in their later years, I spent a lot of time in UK assisting in care etc but only up to a few weeks at a time. I thought six months residency was the requirement for various reasons such as the tax exiles to avoid Irish tax system.
 
There are three separate statuses
Resident (Yes/No), Ordinarily Resident(Yes/No), Domiciled(yes/No)
all with different criteria
There are eight different combinations, all of which are valid and which will have different tax implications
 
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