Volunteering abroad

Tax

Tax considerations will normally only arise in relation to work you do when you receive earnings for that work.

If you do voluntary work for a voluntary organisation – for example, a charity or local society – you will not normally be paid. If you are not paid, it follows that the work you do cannot, of itself, give rise to a tax liability.

However, if you are located overseas when you are performing that unpaid work, your physical presence there may mean that you become tax resident in that country. This will depend on the tax rules in that country.

It is often the case that you are either tax resident or not for an entire tax year in a particular country. The overseas country’s tax year is unlikely to be the same as the UK tax year. You may find that you are dual resident in the UK and the country in which you are volunteering. In addition, most countries tax their tax residents on worldwide income and gains. As such there could be some unforeseen consequences of your volunteering abroad: for example, income you receive in the UK before, during or after the period of unpaid volunteering (but in the same tax year), may be taxable in the overseas country and the UK.

You will therefore need to consider whether there are tax issues arising in the country in which you are volunteering and what impact this may have on your home country tax position. However, double tax agreements can help in these types of situations.

National Insurance contributions

You may want to pay voluntary National Insurance contributions (also known as NIC) to protect your contribution record. 

There is information on GOV.UK about a special reduced rate of voluntary National Insurance contributions available to volunteers in developing countries. This can help to protect your UK contribution record for certain welfare benefit purposes where necessary.