A British couple who moved permanently to the Algarve 12 years ago – never returning to the UK for more than the legal time specified to establish non-resident status – have received a whopping £600,000 shock this week. British newspapers report they have not been able to side-step a huge demand for disputed income tax and capital gains.
According to both the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph, “multimillionaires” Stephen and Pauline Rumbelow could now face a £600,000 pay-out, because Revenue and Customs in the UK have refused to accept their story.
The Rumbelows moved to Silves in 2001, after a lifetime of hard work and “phenomenal success” in England, writes the Daily Mail. They did not sell their family home – a Grade 1 listed mansion in Cheshire – however, and this appears to have triggered the long-running legal case against them.
First-Tier Tax Tribunal Judge Jonathan Cannan ruled this week that the mansion remained “essentially a family home”, and that the Rumbelows’ move, albeit 12 years ago, did not represent “a distinct break” with the UK.
The couple may now be liable for the tax period 2001-2005 which could total as much as £600.000, reports the Daily Telegraph.
