Check Your UK Tax Residence Status

The Statutory Residence Test (SRT) is HMRC's official method for determining whether an individual is UK tax resident for a given tax year. It uses a series of automatic overseas tests, automatic UK tests, and the sufficient ties test based on days spent in the UK and connections to the UK.

It depends on your ties to the UK and whether you are a leaver or arriver. Under the SRT, you could be resident with as few as 16 days if you have enough ties, or non-resident with up to 182 days if you have few ties. The 183-day rule is only one of several tests.

The SRT has 5 connection ties: family tie (spouse/partner or minor child in the UK), accommodation tie (available UK accommodation used for 1+ nights), work tie (working in the UK 40+ days), 90-day tie (spent 90+ days in the UK in either of the previous 2 tax years), and country tie (present in the UK at midnight more than any other single country). Leavers are tested against all 5; arrivers against the first 4 only.

A leaver is someone who was UK resident in one or more of the previous 3 tax years. An arriver has not been UK resident in any of the previous 3 tax years. The distinction matters because leavers face a stricter sufficient ties test - they are assessed against all 5 connection ties and become resident at lower day thresholds. For example, a leaver with 3 ties becomes resident at 91 days, whereas an arriver with 3 ties becomes resident at 121 days.

Under HMRC's midnight rule, a day counts as a UK day if you are present in the UK at the end of that day (midnight). So the day you arrive in the UK does not count, but the day you depart does count (because you were present at midnight the previous night). Exceptional circumstances - such as civil unrest, natural disaster, or sudden illness - may allow HMRC to disregard up to 60 days where you were unable to leave the UK.

Split-year treatment can apply in the tax year you arrive in or depart from the UK if certain conditions are met. It divides the tax year into a UK part (where UK tax rules apply to worldwide income) and an overseas part (where only UK-source income is taxed). There are 8 split-year cases under HMRC's guidance, covering scenarios such as starting full-time overseas work, ceasing to have a UK home, or starting full-time UK work. Whether split-year applies and which case covers you can be complex - professional advice is recommended.