Gary Clement for The National
Gary Clement for The National
Gary Clement for The National
Gary Clement for The National

Smart approach is the best tax shelter


  • English
  • Arabic

"I just filled out my income tax forms. Who says you can't get killed by a blank?" These are the wise, wry words of the American comedian Milton Berle. Filling out tax forms can be scary, regardless of whether you are being honest or hiding information.
Hiding money is what a certain someone living in the United Kingdom wanted to do when he asked to funnel returns from investments through my account here in the UAE - the answer to which was a categorical no.
Americans, look away now. Many of us expatriates enjoy the rewards of a tax-free income, but what legal options are open to us if we go home?
The wealthier you are, the more options you have if you live in the UK, which is why a furore broke out this week ahead of next month's general election. The bone of contention is the tax status of certain individuals. More on this later.
But first, a friend nails it when he says that never again will he work for free for half the year - referring to his high tax bracket back in London. This brings to mind a suggested IRS (the American government agency responsible for tax collection) motto: "We have what it takes to take what you have".
This friend only took home the pay for about half a year's work - 40 per cent went to the tax man, and he didn't like it. Avoiding being taxed is one reason people seek voluntary exile and become expats - unless you're American, in which case nowhere is safe.
Americans suffer being taxed on worldwide income and assets (although they are exempt from the first $100,000 or so in most cases). Most are not happy with this, if we are to extrapolate from a survey carried out at the end of last year, where 73 per cent of US expats taking part said they would voluntarily relinquish their citizenship because of Fatca - the 2010 American global tax law concerning foreign assets. This is what Tina Turner did in 2013, and what a Facebook co-founder did the year before.
And just as the US will pursue its citizens, so will others - the Indian government is back in the press this week promising to crack down on nationals dodging tax by not declaring overseas assets and income. It's not just corrupt politicians and wealthy business people - whom India's finance minister refers to - who will be outed if the UAE agrees to share information around ownership.
Some have options other than breaking the law to bring down tax bills. In the UK, one way is to be classed as non-domiciled, which means you pay an annual fee to live there but avoid paying income tax on earnings generated outside the country. But it's by no means an option for the hard-working masses.
A rule of thumb to taxation is that if you live in the UK, you are taxed on what you earn. How much depends on your circumstances and what you make. If you reside and work abroad, you do not pay tax on earnings generated overseas while an expat, provided you do not stay more than 91 days in the UK during any one tax year. What has the public agitated is that some of the country's wealthiest individuals have been able to enjoy life in England while not paying tax on worldwide income. Their non-domiciled status comes cheaper than paying taxes on their worldwide income. How much depends on how long they've lived there - the entry level fee is £30,000 (Dh162,150). This means that the seriously rich get away with enjoying their wealth, and deciding where to live, while British expatriates diligently count up days not to overstay, or spend sleepless nights fretting over whether they've filled in returns properly.
As an expatriate, I look at this and wonder whether it would work for people like us.
You don't need to be mega rich to benefit from non-domiciled status. If you plan to live in the UK, then calculate what you'd pay out in income tax on all earnings and compare it with the annual fee. If you're lucky enough to receive a big payout - such as capital gains - the fee could be to your advantage. The other thing to note is that you can dip in and out of non-domiciled status depending on your tax liabilities for any specific year.
There's a lot to be said for tax when society benefits - but this isn't always the case. So until the politicians sort it out, I urge you to do as Nixon said:
"Make sure you pay your taxes; otherwise you can get in a lot of trouble."
Nima Abu Wardeh is the founder of the personal finance website cashy.me. You can reach her at nima@cashy.me

The BIO:

He became the first Emirati to climb Mount Everest in 2011, from the south section in Nepal

He ascended Mount Everest the next year from the more treacherous north Tibetan side

By 2015, he had completed the Explorers Grand Slam

Last year, he conquered K2, the world’s second-highest mountain located on the Pakistan-Chinese border

He carries dried camel meat, dried dates and a wheat mixture for the final summit push

His new goal is to climb 14 peaks that are more than 8,000 metres above sea level

ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA

Starring: Nader Abd Alhay, Majd Eid, Ramzi Maqdisi

Directors: Tarzan and Arab Nasser

Rating: 4.5/5

Our legal columnist

Name: Yousef Al Bahar

Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994

Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers

U19 WORLD CUP, WEST INDIES

UAE group fixtures (all in St Kitts)

  • Saturday 15 January: UAE beat Canada by 49 runs 
  • Thursday 20 January: v England 
  • Saturday 22 January: v Bangladesh 

UAE squad:

Alishan Sharafu (captain), Shival Bawa, Jash Giyanani, Sailles
Jaishankar, Nilansh Keswani, Aayan Khan, Punya Mehra, Ali Naseer, Ronak Panoly,
Dhruv Parashar, Vinayak Raghavan, Soorya Sathish, Aryansh Sharma, Adithya
Shetty, Kai Smith  

Who has been sanctioned?

Daniella Weiss and Nachala
Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.

Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure
Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.

Zohar Sabah
Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.

Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm
These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.

The specs: 2018 Jaguar F-Type Convertible

Price, base / as tested: Dh283,080 / Dh318,465

Engine: 2.0-litre inline four-cylinder

Transmission: Eight-speed automatic

Power: 295hp @ 5,500rpm

Torque: 400Nm @ 1,500rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 7.2L / 100km

In%20the%20Land%20of%20Saints%20and%20Sinners
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERobert%20Lorenz%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Liam%20Neeson%2C%20Kerry%20Condon%2C%20Jack%20Gleeson%2C%20Ciaran%20Hinds%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021

Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.

The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.

These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.

“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.

“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.

“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.

“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”

Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.

There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.

“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.

“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.

“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The story of Edge

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, established Edge in 2019.

It brought together 25 state-owned and independent companies specialising in weapons systems, cyber protection and electronic warfare.

Edge has an annual revenue of $5 billion and employs more than 12,000 people.

Some of the companies include Nimr, a maker of armoured vehicles, Caracal, which manufactures guns and ammunitions company, Lahab

 

Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
  • Flexible work arrangements
  • Pension support
  • Mental well-being assistance
  • Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
  • Financial well-being incentives 
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES

Friday (all kick-offs UAE time)

Hertha Berlin v Union Berlin (10.30pm)

Saturday

Freiburg v Werder Bremen (5.30pm)

Paderborn v Hoffenheim (5.30pm)

Wolfsburg v Borussia Dortmund (5.30pm)

Borussia Monchengladbach v Bayer Leverkusen (5.30pm)

Bayern Munich v Eintracht Frankfurt (5.30pm)

Sunday

Schalke v Augsburg (3.30pm)

Mainz v RB Leipzig (5.30pm)

Cologne v Fortuna Dusseldorf (8pm)

 

 

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

Dubai Bling season three

Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed 

Rating: 1/5

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%3Cp%3EDungeons%20%26amp%3B%20Dragons%20began%20as%20an%20interactive%20game%20which%20would%20be%20set%20up%20on%20a%20table%20in%201974.%20One%20player%20takes%20on%20the%20role%20of%20dungeon%20master%2C%20who%20directs%20the%20game%2C%20while%20the%20other%20players%20each%20portray%20a%20character%2C%20determining%20its%20species%2C%20occupation%20and%20moral%20and%20ethical%20outlook.%20They%20can%20choose%20the%20character%E2%80%99s%20abilities%2C%20such%20as%20strength%2C%20constitution%2C%20dexterity%2C%20intelligence%2C%20wisdom%20and%20charisma.%20In%20layman%E2%80%99s%20terms%2C%20the%20winner%20is%20the%20one%20who%20amasses%20the%20highest%20score.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A