RDRM33121 - Remittance Basis: Identifying Remittances: Conditions A and B: Condition A – meaning of ‘brought to’

A taxable remittance occurs when the relevant conditions at section 809L ITA 2007 are met – see RDRM33020.

Under Condition A, money or other property could be ‘brought to’ the UK by or for the benefit of a relevant person.

Any reference to property being brought to the UK includes sending or transferring property to the UK, which includes sending money via electronic bank transfer.

Intangible property is ‘brought to’ the UK when steps are taken, or permitted to be taken, which result in intangible property currently situated outside the UK becoming situated in the UK.

‘Steps taken’ has a wide meaning and covers a variety of different ways in which intangible property can become situated within the UK. For guidance on the situs of intangible property, see RDRM33120.

 Example 1

Charles has recently started studying a post-graduate qualification at Manchester University and requires funds to pay his tuition fees. His father, Mo, a former remittance basis user, offers to send the funds to him.

Mo transfers £50,000 of his untaxed foreign income from his offshore account in Nigeria to the Charles’s UK bank account. Condition A is satisfied as Mo has brought money (a form of property) to the UK; it does not matter if a relevant person benefitted because Mo has effected the transfer and is, himself, a relevant person. In order to determine whether there has been a taxable remittance, Condition B must now be considered – see RDRM33140 onwards.

Example 2

On 1 January 2026, Nevaeh, a UK resident former remittance basis user, makes a loan of £180,000 to her friend Lucian using her untaxed foreign income. Lucian is resident in Denmark, and on 1 January Nevaeh transfers the funds from her German bank account to Lucian’s Danish bank account. The loan is a simple contract debt, so for remittance basis purposes it is sited where the debtor is resident. It is therefore sited in Denmark because Lucian is the debtor. Under the terms of the loan agreement, it is interest free, but Lucian is required to repay it in full by 31 December 2028.

By 1 October 2028, Lucian is having financial difficulties and approaches his brother Gabriel for help. Gabriel is resident in the UK. Gabriel offers to take on Lucian’s debt, so they contact Nevaeh and request to amend the terms of the loan to replace Lucian with Gabriel as the debtor. Nevaeh agrees and has the amended loan terms drawn up, effective from 15 October 2028.

When Nevaeh amends the loan terms to replace Lucian with Gabriel as the debtor, she takes a step which results in the loan (the intangible property) becoming situated in the UK, because Gabriel is UK resident. Condition A has been satisfied because property (the loan) has been brought to the UK by a relevant person (Nevaeh). In order to determine whether there has been a taxable remittance, Condition B must now be considered – see RDRM33140 onwards.

If Gabriel had not taken on Lucian’s debt, and instead of the loan becoming sited in the UK due to the amending of the loan terms it changed situs because Lucian moved to the UK and became UK resident, Condition A would not be met. This is because no relevant person would have taken a step which resulted in the change of situs. However, the situation may be different if Lucian was a relevant person to Nevaeh.