When do I stop being UK tax resident after leaving?

In the year you leave, you will usually still be UK resident under the SRT - the test applies to the full tax year. However, split year treatment can divide the year, so you are only taxed as a UK resident up to your departure point. From the following tax year, you need to pass one of the automatic overseas tests to be non-resident.

How many days can I visit the UK without becoming tax resident again?

If you were UK resident in one or more of the 3 previous tax years, you pass the first automatic overseas test if you spend fewer than 16 days in the UK. If you spend 16–45 days, you are non-resident only if you have fewer than 4 UK ties. If you spend 46–90 days, you need fewer than 3 ties. At 91–120 days you need fewer than 2 ties. Above 120 days, any one tie makes you UK resident.

Do I need to notify HMRC when I leave the UK?

Yes. If you were employed, complete form P85 (Leaving the UK - getting your tax right) before or shortly after you leave. If you file Self Assessment, notify HMRC via your tax return and indicate split year treatment where relevant. Your employer will also need to know your departure date to stop operating PAYE.

Does selling my UK home help my residence status?

Yes, in two ways. It removes the accommodation tie, which could otherwise count against you in the sufficient ties test. If you qualify for Case 3 split year treatment, ceasing to have a UK home also triggers your overseas part - though the conditions are strict (fewer than 16 UK days after leaving, and a new home established overseas within 6 months).

Does split year treatment apply automatically?

If you meet the conditions for one of the cases, yes - it applies automatically and you have no choice (RFIG21010). You must report the split year treatment on your Self Assessment tax return and identify the correct split date.

What counts as a UK day after I leave?

A UK day is any day on which you are present in the UK at midnight (RFIG20710). The day you depart is not a UK day (you leave before midnight). The day you arrive back is a UK day. Days spent in the UK due to exceptional circumstances - such as a serious illness preventing you from leaving - may not count, subject to a 60-day annual cap.

What is the 90-day tie and when does it apply?

The 90-day tie applies if you spent more than 90 days in the UK in either of the two tax years before the year being assessed. It is one of up to 5 ties that HMRC checks when applying the sufficient ties test. As a recent leaver, this tie will be relevant in the first couple of years after departure if you spent a lot of time in the UK before leaving.

Leaving the UK Mid-Year: What Happens to Your Tax Residency

Leaving the UK part-way through a tax year does not automatically end your UK tax residency for that year. Under the Statutory Residence Test, your residence status is assessed for the whole year - and in the year you leave, you will almost certainly still be UK resident. What changes is whether split year treatment applies to limit your tax exposure, and how you manage your status in future years.

Key points

In the year you leave, you will usually still be UK resident - but split year treatment may divide the year and limit UK tax to the period before you left
In future years, you need to pass one of the automatic overseas tests to be non-resident
Visits back to the UK are not automatically safe - the number of UK days and ties you hold both matter
The day you leave is not a UK day; the day you arrive back is
Failing to track UK days carefully is the most common mistake leavers make

Step 1: The year you leave

In most cases, the tax year in which you leave the UK (6 April to 5 April) will still count as a year of UK residence. You were here for part of it, and the automatic overseas tests are assessed against the full year - which you cannot pass if you were working in the UK or spending significant time here at the start of the year.

This does not mean you pay UK tax on your entire worldwide income for the year. If split year treatment applies, the year is divided into:

UK part - taxed as a UK resident (worldwide income in scope)
Overseas part - taxed as a non-resident (generally only UK-source income in scope)

There are three cases relevant to people leaving the UK. Check which applies to you:

Case	Applies when	Overseas part starts
Case 1	You start full-time work overseas	First day you work overseas for more than 3 hours
Case 2	You are the partner of someone in Case 1	The day you join your partner overseas (or their Case 1 start date, whichever is later)
Case 3	You cease to have any UK home	The day you no longer have a home in the UK

Case 1 is the most common for people leaving for employment. The key requirement for subsequent years: you must become non-resident in the following tax year by meeting the third automatic overseas test (full-time work overseas). See the full split year guide for the complete conditions and day limits for each case.

Step 2: Future years - becoming non-resident

From the tax year after the one in which you leave, you need to pass at least one of the three automatic overseas tests to be non-resident. The two most relevant for leavers are:

First automatic overseas test (RFIG20120)

You pass this test if:

You were UK resident in at least one of the 3 preceding tax years, and
You spent fewer than 16 days in the UK in the tax year

This is the cleanest path to non-residency. 15 days or fewer in the UK, and the question is settled.

Third automatic overseas test (RFIG20140)

You pass this third automatic overseas test if:

You work full-time overseas during the tax year
No significant break from overseas work (a gap of 31+ days where you do no overseas work)
Fewer than 31 days working in the UK (more than 3 hours on any day counts as a UK working day)
Fewer than 91 days in the UK in total

This is the route for people who work abroad and want to be able to spend more time in the UK - up to 90 days, as long as most of them are not working days.

Step 3: If you don't pass the automatic overseas tests

If you spend 16 or more days in the UK and are not working full-time overseas, the automatic overseas tests do not apply and you move to the sufficient ties test.

As someone who was recently UK resident, you are assessed against Table A - the stricter of the two tables (RFIG20520). See the full day limits breakdown for both tables with worked examples.

UK days in the tax year	Ties needed to become UK resident
16–45	4 ties (all of them)
46–90	3 or more ties
91–120	2 or more ties
Over 120	1 or more ties

There are five possible ties: family, accommodation, work, the 90-day tie, and the country tie. The more UK ties you have, the fewer days you can spend in the UK before becoming UK resident again.

The 90-day tie is particularly relevant for recent leavers: if you spent more than 90 days in the UK in either of the two previous tax years, you automatically have this tie in the year after leaving.

See the ties test guide for details on each tie.

Counting UK days: the midnight rule

A UK day is any day on which you are present in the UK at midnight (RFIG20710).

This has two important practical consequences:

The day you depart is not a UK day - if you fly out on 15 October and are not in the UK at midnight, 15 October does not count
The day you arrive back is a UK day - if you land on 3 January and are in the UK at midnight, 3 January counts

If exceptional circumstances (such as a medical emergency or sudden travel ban) force you to stay in the UK longer than planned, those days may be excluded - subject to an annual cap of 60 days for certain parts of the SRT.

Worked example: James leaves for Amsterdam

James has lived and worked in London for ten years. In the 2024–25 tax year, he accepts a permanent role in Amsterdam and starts work there on 1 October 2024. Before leaving he ends his flat lease. After departure, he visits the UK twice to see friends, spending a total of 12 days in the UK between October and April (none of them working days).

Departure year: 2024–25

Is James UK resident for 2024–25? Yes - he was in the UK for the first half of the year and cannot pass the automatic overseas tests for the full year.

Does split year treatment apply? James checks Case 1:

UK resident for 2024–25? ✓
UK resident for 2023–24? ✓
Will he be non-resident for 2025–26 via the third automatic overseas test? He plans to work full-time in Amsterdam with no UK working days and fewer than 91 UK days - yes ✓
Overseas work criteria from 1 October 2024?
- Relevant period starts October → permitted limits: 15 UK working days, 45 UK days
- James spent 12 UK days and 0 UK working days - within both limits ✓

Result: Case 1 split year treatment applies. James's UK part runs 6 April – 30 September 2024; his overseas part runs 1 October 2024 – 5 April 2025. His Amsterdam salary from October is outside the scope of UK tax (subject to the UK–Netherlands double taxation treaty). UK rental income, if any, would still be taxable.

2025–26: first full year abroad

James works full-time in Amsterdam all year, visits the UK for three long weekends totalling 22 days, and does no UK work.

Third automatic overseas test: full-time overseas work ✓, 0 UK working days (< 31) ✓, 22 UK days (< 91) ✓
James is non-resident for 2025–26.

What would change the outcome?

If James had a child living in the UK (family tie) and spent 50 days in the UK one year without passing the third automatic overseas test, he would need to check the ties test: 50 days + 1 tie = non-resident under Table A. Safe. But 50 days + 3 ties = UK resident.

Practical steps before and after leaving

Before you leave:

Confirm which split year case (if any) applies to your departure year
If relying on Case 3, plan the timing of ending your UK home carefully - the 16-day post-departure limit is strict
Check whether you have a UK property you are renting out - non-resident landlords still pay UK tax on rental income and must register with the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme
Complete form P85 if you are employed, to notify HMRC and claim any PAYE refund

After you leave:

Start tracking UK days from day one - use the day planner to stay on top of your count
Review your UK ties: do you have a family tie? An accommodation tie (a place to stay in the UK that is available for 91+ days)? A work tie?
If you retain a UK property as a home (rather than letting it commercially), you may have an accommodation tie - which counts against you in the ties test
Keep a travel diary noting entry and exit dates, times, and purpose of UK visits
File a UK Self Assessment return for the departure year, declaring split year treatment on the residence pages (SA109)

The most common mistakes

Assuming departure = non-residency. The SRT does not work this way. You need to actively pass one of the automatic overseas tests in future years.

Not counting days carefully. Spending 17 days instead of 15 can be the difference between passing the first automatic overseas test and having to apply the ties test.

Keeping a UK home. Retaining access to a property in the UK - even a parent's home you stay in regularly - can create an accommodation tie. Combined with other ties, this can tip you back into UK residency unexpectedly.

Assuming treaty protection. A double taxation treaty can prevent you being taxed twice, but it does not determine your UK residence status. The SRT applies first.

Use the free SRT calculator to check your residence status for the departure year and any subsequent years - it works through all three stages of the test, including the sufficient ties test, based on your specific day counts and ties.