Health and taxes

[Rexor]

Hello,

My wife and I are ultimately hoping to relocate to the UK (we're Americans). I'm a writer, and have learned that I can work there as long as my family is supported solely by my writing/publishing. My question: Because we would have to purchase health insurance as expats, would we still have to pay NHS taxes?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

[jlms]

Originally Posted by Rexor

Hello,

My wife and I are ultimately hoping to relocate to the UK (we're Americans). I'm a writer, and have learned that I can work there as long as my family is supported solely by my writing/publishing. My question: Because we would have to purchase health insurance as expats, would we still have to pay NHS taxes?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

I am an expat and pay no private health insurance, so I don't understand why you seem to think you must do this as an expat.

Once you are settled in the UK you must pay taxes here (it is more complicated than that, but in principle if you reside here the government expects you to pay taxes here).

Part of those taxes are the National Insurance Contributions, which contribute to all kind of social support, I believe NHS would be part of that.

In any case, once you are settled and are paying taxes locally (that is working for six months) you have the right to use the NHS.

I don't know what the situation is for any dependants, but my "gut feeling" is that everybody would have the right to use the NHS services.

I would consult with your closest British Consulate just to make sure.

[Rexor]

Originally Posted by jlms

I am an expat and pay no private health insurance, so I don't understand why you seem to think you must do this as an expat.

Once you are settled in the UK you must pay taxes here (it is more complicated than that, but in principle if you reside here the government expects you to pay taxes here).

Part of those taxes are the National Insurance Contributions, which contribute to all kind of social support, I believe NHS would be part of that.

In any case, once you are settled and are paying taxes locally (that is working for six months) you have the right to use the NHS.

I don't know what the situation is for any dependants, but my "gut feeling" is that everybody would have the right to use the NHS services.

I would consult with your closest British Consulate just to make sure.

Thanks for the reply, jlms. I assumed that I would be paying taxes in the UK. But I must say I'm surprised to hear that we would be eligible for NHS--in France, for instance, we would have had to acquire private health insurance before settling as expats. I thought it was similar with the UK, but perhaps I was misinformed.