The Tax Compass Podcast
The Tax Compass Podcast
Podcast Description
Welcome to The Tax Compass Podcast by LSR Partners; a must-listen for expats, non-residents, and anyone with UK tax obligations abroad. Hosted by LSR Partners tax experts Laura Sant and Simon Roue, we’re here to simplify complex UK tax issues so you can confidently manage your finances, no matter where in the world you are.
If you're navigating UK tax from overseas, planning a move, or dealing with HMRC, this podcast offers clear, practical guidance. Each episode covers essential topics, from capital gains and inheritance tax to residency rules, with real-life case studies and expert insights to help you make informed decisions.
Why listen to The Tax Compass Podcast?
1. Clear, Actionable Advice: We break down UK tax complexities into simple, actionable steps.
2. Tailored for Expats and Non-Residents: Addressing unique cross-border challenges.
3. Trusted Expertise: Laura and Simon bring decades of experience, sharing insights to guide you every step of the way.
Join us to gain clarity and take control of your tax obligations with The Tax Compass Podcast. Pay the right tax, in the right place, at the right time. Subscribe now!
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast focuses on UK tax obligations for expats and non-residents, covering essential topics such as double tax treaties, property taxation, pension contributions, and recent budget implications. For example, specific episodes discuss capital gains tax when selling property and the nuances of pension tax relief for high earners, providing actionable and practical advice.
The Tax Compass Podcast helps globally mobile individuals, expats, and internationally connected professionals navigate the complexities of the UK tax system with clarity, honesty, and real-world insight.
Hosted by tax advisers Simon Roue and Dr. Laura Sant from LSR Partners, each episode dives into the issues that matter most if you’re living, investing, or working across borders. You’ll get plain-English explanations, practical tips, and expert analysis on topics like:
UK tax residency and the Statutory Residence Test
The impact of changes to non-dom status and foreign income rules
Inheritance Tax, gifting, and wealth transfer
Tax planning for remote workers, international employees, and entrepreneurs
HMRC compliance, tax returns, and real case studies
How to pay the right tax in the right place at the right time
If you’re unsure what your obligations are, or if you suspect you’re paying too much, this podcast is your compass for making smarter, simpler tax decisions.
Whether you’re a British expat, a non-dom living in the UK, or someone with property, family, or investments across borders, this is your go-to source for tax clarity and confidence.
🧭 Brought to you by LSR Partners – helping you pay the right tax, in the right place, at the right time.
📲 Book a call or learn more at lsrpartners.com
If you are employed and you assume that because your company runs payroll your employment income tax is being handled correctly, this episode is for you.
In Episode 21 of the Tax Compass Podcast, Simon and Laura cover the full landscape of employment income and UK tax. This is an area where people most commonly discover either that they have been overpaying tax for years or that they have an unexpected liability they never saw coming. Both situations are avoidable with the right knowledge.
Simon opens with the observation that even clients with complicated tax returns often have a comfort blanket of knowing LSR Partners will sort things out. The concern is the clients who think their employment income is simple and therefore does not need checking. It is often those clients who are sitting on the biggest surprises.
The episode covers the following areas in detail:
How PAYE and tax codes work. HMRC issues a tax code to your employer and your employer applies it mechanically. Payroll has no discretion. If the code is wrong, payroll applies the wrong code regardless. The error sits with HMRC and it falls to you to spot it and correct it. Laura explains how cumulative and emergency codes work differently, and why an emergency code can mean missing out on unused allowances and brackets that you are entitled to.
Benefits in kind and the difference between those processed through payroll in real time and those reported via P11D at the year end. P11Ds are being abolished in April 2026 and everything will need to be payrolled, but until then the timing gap between receiving a benefit and having it reflected in your tax code creates a period where you have taxable income that has not been taxed. The episode explains how this works and what to watch for.
Pension contributions, covering the distinction between salary sacrifice and relief at source, why the naming of these two schemes is confusing and arguably the wrong way round, and why higher and additional rate taxpayers using relief at source schemes need to claim their additional relief through a tax return rather than assuming the pension provider handles it.
The annual allowance and tapering. The current annual allowance is £60,000, tapering down to £10,000 for those with adjusted income above £360,000. Over-contributions create a tax charge that people consistently fail to anticipate, and the episode explains why the first year of exceeding the allowance often catches people with no carry-forward relief available.
The upcoming salary sacrifice cap. From a future date, salary sacrifice pension contributions will be capped at £2,000 per year. Simon and Laura are clear that this is a stealth tax rise. Employer National Insurance savings on salary sacrifice contributions above that level will disappear, which will almost certainly lead to employers reducing or removing the matching contributions that currently make salary sacrifice schemes so valuable. The message is straightforward: maximise employer contributions now while the current rules still apply.
Equity awards and the £100,000 threshold. For clients whose salary sits just below £100,000, a bonus or equity vesting event can push their total income above the threshold, remove their personal allowance and create a tax liability that neither they nor their employer anticipated. The episode walks through exactly why this happens and why it is more common than people expect.
Simple assessment and overpaid tax. HMRC is estimated to have caused around 600,000 people to overpay tax through incorrect PAYE processing. The simple assessment system is designed to catch these errors, but in practice LSR Partners see it failing regularly, including cases where overpayment relief claims are simply being ignored.
The episode closes with a reminder that equity is covered in more detail in a separate episode, and with the consistent LSR Partners message: if you have questions about your employment income tax position, get in touch before a problem compounds rather than after.
Subscribe for more tax guidance for expats and globally mobile individuals.
Brought to you by LSR Partners – helping you pay the right tax in the right place at the right time.
📲 Book a call with us to talk about your situation: https://lsrpartners.com
🎧 Catch up on all past episodes: https://lsrpartners.com/podcast-videos
Disclaimer
This podcast’s information is provided for general reference and was obtained from publicly accessible sources. The Podcast Collaborative neither produces nor verifies the content, accuracy, or suitability of this podcast. Views and opinions belong solely to the podcast creators and guests.
For a complete disclaimer, please see our Full Disclaimer on the archive page. The Podcast Collaborative bears no responsibility for the podcast’s themes, language, or overall content. Listener discretion is advised. Read our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy for more details.