IPTM9060 | Overseas insurers: restrictions on who may be nominated to be a tax representative

Individuals

An overseas insurer may only nominate an individual to be its tax representative if that individual is resident in the UK and has a fixed place of residence in the UK. A fixed place of residence is where a person normally lives or carries out a permanent business. A residential or commercial property held on a lease of at least 12 months would amount to a fixed place of residence but a ‘care of’, PO Box postal address, hotel or other temporary accommodation would not.

Persons other than individuals

An insurer may nominate a person other than an individual, such as a company, to be its tax representative provided that person has a business establishment in the UK. This means accommodation which is, or is intended to be, occupied and used with a reasonable degree of permanence for the purposes of the representative’s business.

The tax representative’s appointment must cease if these residence conditions are clearly breached, for instance if a tax representative who is an individual becomes resident outside the UK. There is guidance on replacement of a tax representative in IPTM9130.