Longer-term secondments to the UK

Produced by Tolley in association with Paul Tew
Employment Tax
Guidance

Longer-term secondments to the UK

Produced by Tolley in association with Paul Tew
Employment Tax
Guidance
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This note primarily covers the PAYE (tax and NIC) position of seconded employees working wholly or partly in the UK.

This note does not cover relief from income tax for:

  1. travel and subsistence payments commonly referred to as detached duty or temporary workplace relief associated with secondments of less than 24 months, or

  2. relocation expenses and ‘home leave’ travelling expenses of an employee’s family, which are subject to special rules to qualify for relief

For more on those rules, see the Home leave and employee travel guidance note.

For the purposes of this note, a seconded employee is one who is:

  1. working wholly or partly in the UK for a UK resident employer on assignment whilst remaining employed by an overseas employer, or

  2. assigned to work wholly or partly in the UK at a recognised branch of the employer’s business

An employee is always either resident or non-resident for a complete tax year, although split-year treatment may apply. If an individual is non-resident (see the Statutory residence

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Paul Tew
Paul Tew linkedinicon

Writer and advisor at Paywatch


Paul Tew is a freelance adviser, primarily in the areas of pay, personal taxation and remuneration planning. A frequent contributor to technical journals on pay and benefits issues, having written for the "In Business" section of the Times. Paul continues to supply articles for various recognised professional publications including Pay and Benefits magazine, Taxation magazine and Company's Secretary's Review. Paul also has had several loose leaf and bound books published on a variety of subject matter including PAYE, NIC, Sickness and Maternity Pay.Paul has written and presented training courses as well as headed up payroll and employment help desks and acted as an assessor for recognised Payroll/HR qualifications. Paul previously worked in the healthcare and oil sectors managing Pay and benefit services, so has many years of experience in dealing with PAYE and employment compliance issues across a broad range of industries and organisations.

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  • 12 Jun 2025 10:12

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