Canada->UK on work permit - what to expect

Hi,

I'm working for a Canadian company that has a number of clients in Europe. The company is hiring people in the UK to support its European operations. I'm willing to relocate for a year or two and my management is more interested to use people from here rather then hiring new people in UK (to save on training). I'm not sure if they actually going to rent an office space or just let me work from home, but in any case I'll be in London area.
The work permit is not my problem, but I have a few questions.
1. My daughter is 9. I was told that I'll have to pay for her school. Although it seems hard to believe, I'd like to make sure it is not true. If it is, what amount of money are we talking about? Also, my daughter attends a French immersion school, I know it is not available in the UK, but there should be some kind of an alternative (the goal is not to loose French so that she can go back to her school when we return).
2. What about medical insurance? Who is paying and how much?
3. My wife is a freelance illustrator and has a company registered in Canada. She will probably be doing some job for the UK-based clients, but receive payments on her Canadian account. Is she still a subject to the UK tax laws?
And sorry, I didn't search the archives, I believe these or similar questions were already asked. I'll appreciate if someone points me to an appropriate topic.
Thanks

I can't see why you would need to pay for school if you're legally there. Contact the Alliance Francais in London, I know they do classes for kids and they can probably point you to a french language school - that you will have to pay for.

If you're legally there then you can register for the NHS. It covers more stuff than OHIP or any Canadian plan. First of all you need to go to the DSS office and get your NI number.

If you work in the UK then you are subject to UK tax laws. Two ways of doing it, move your tax home there or keep it in Canada. Unlike the US it's relatively easy to move your tax home in and out of the UK, basically you tell the CRA you've left and file a pro-rated T1 for the year you left and in the UK you tell HMRC you are resident for tax purposes and give them your NI number, have a look at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk

When you leave the UK your employer gives you a P45 and you file a P85 with HMRC which tells them you've left. Then you file a pro-rated T1 for the portion of the year after you've returned to Canada.

If you want to remain resident in Canada for tax purposes you carry on filing a T1 and claim a foreign tax credit (I don't think you can claim NI contributions), you are still subject to payroll deductions however and tax on UK-source income. (I'm not sure why you would want to do it this way unless your stay is going to be quite short).

Your wife would have to pay income tax in the UK because she's physically doing the work in the UK. I'm guessing she'd have to register as self-employed in the UK.

Bear in mind the UK tax year runs from April 5th each year, which makes calculating your taxes rather complex moving back and forth because the P60 doesn't help much, make sure you keep your pay slips so you can work it out on a calendar year basis if that subject comes up with the CRA.

Thanks a lot, it covers most of my questions.

One thing I forgot to mention, departure tax. Most people don't get hit with it and if you're only going for a short period of time it will be minimal.