If you’ve been living in Japan a long time now, chances are you’re still paying tax on interest you earn back home in the UK. Well, you needn’t be, if you’ve been out of the UK for more 90 days during each tax year – at which point you are classed as a non-resident.

Firstly, you’ll want to download and fill in this R105 form which says you shouldn’t pay tax from now on – and mail that to your bank or building society. Note that not all banks will allow you to not pay tax.

Next, find your financial records for all the years past that you’ve been living here in Japan and still paying tax back home. You can claim for up to 5 years of past tax deductions. You’ll need to fill out a separate R43 Tax Repayment Claim for each year, and the forms vary slightly by year. You can find them all here though. Send this to the inland revenue.

Easy 2 or 3 man in your pocket, and gross (no tax) interest on your savings in the UK from now on! What are you waiting for?

Oh, and if you’re wondering about the cheapest way to send money to the UK to earn that interest (with an infiinitely better rate than the 0.2% or whatever chump-change you’re offered here in Japan), then I suggest you check out GoLloyds. They charge a maximum of 2000 yen fee no matter how much you send back! And if you wouldn’t mind when you’re signing up please write “JAMES ANDREW BRUCE” in the referrer box, which will give me 2000 yen credit towards my next money transfer! Thanks!