Am I right in saying I don't need to do anything *on departure*, rather just file the year's tax return with extra forms, based on the date I left? I know I need to update addresses everywhere.
Yes, you're not an expat until you officially become a resident of the UK.
The definition of resident is pretty tightly defined by HMRC.
Ours was a little complicated by the fact we own a small business (CCPC) so we had to declare an interim year-end as of the date of our officially becoming non-residents.
A few things you might think about:
-If your Canadian passport is due to expire in a year or less, get it done at home... it's expensive to do it from overseas.
-Get a UK account open before you leave... we used HSBC. We had UK banking and credit cards before we arrived. Makes life a lot nicer.
-Using HSBC also simplified bring money across.
If you bring over $100K at a time they are within approx. 1% of the interbank rate.
At $50K they are at about 1.5%... that's as good as any of the currency brokers offer plus no international transfer fees.
-Get a Canadian address to send your mail to (i.e. relative or friend). Leave them a Canada Post Gift card and a box of letter size envelopes.
Once you know your address send them preprinted address labels and have them send your mail every month. Trust me it will simplify your life.
-If you are going to be renting, make a portfolio of rental referrals. As homeowners we didn't really have much but we did get some letters from our home insurance agent etc. I think it really helps as the rental market is quite crowded here.
-Have 6 months of rent cash... it'll get you over the hurdle of not having a rental history AND not having a credit history.
-Get a referral letter from your car insurance company/agent showing years of claim free coverage. It'll reduce your insurance immensely.
-Sign up on a cash back site when you arrive. You'll be buying a lot of shit to get going and you'll get 3-5% on most stuff plus some pretty nice cashback on Internet/Phone/Utilities etc. (We use TopCashBack... if you do use them, let me know if you want a referral code)
-Rent a car for a month or two. It'll take the pressure off of buying a car.
But call from Canada... it can be very expensive renting here. You might get a better deal from Canada.
There's probably more but I need to take the dog out for walk, in the rain... (oh yeah, don't forget your plastic mac and bring a brolly! Your going to need them in January)