Split Year Treatment UK: All 8 Cases Explained

The Statutory Residence Test works one whole tax year at a time. On its own, that would leave someone who moves abroad in September UK resident, and taxed on their worldwide income, until the following 5 April.

Split year treatment fixes that. If your circumstances match one of eight cases, the tax year is divided into a UK part and an overseas part. You're taxed as a UK resident for the UK part, and broadly as a non-resident for the overseas part.

This guide covers all eight cases, three for leaving the UK and five for arriving, the priority rules when more than one fits, how to claim, and the traps that lose people the relief.

For an exit plan covering your own dates, see our tax advice for leaving the UK.

Image 1 — the eight cases at a glance

The leaving cases apply if you were resident last year and are non-resident next year. Come back too soon and the split falls away, so the whole year is taxed as resident. If more than one leaving case fits, the priority is Case 1, then 2, then 3. The arriving cases apply if you were non-resident last year, and where they overlap the earliest split date usually wins.

How does split year treatment work?

What do you actually get? Split year treatment isn't a separate residence status. You're still UK resident for the whole year under the Statutory Residence Test, but most income and gains that arise in the overseas part are taxed as if you were non-resident. Three points to keep in mind:

• It isn't optional: if you meet a case, split year treatment applies automatically. You don't elect for it, but you do need to claim it on your return.

• You must be UK resident for the year: if the SRT already makes you non-resident for the whole year, there's nothing to split.

• Not everything splits: the overseas part isn't a full non-resident year. For example, the disregarded income limit on UK dividends and interest doesn't apply in it. See disregarded income.

👉 HMRC guidance: RDR3 Statutory Residence Test, including split year treatment

Leaving the UK: Cases 1 to 3

Which case fits a departure? All three leaving cases need you to have been UK resident in the previous tax year and to be non-resident in the following one. If the following year doesn't turn out to be non-resident, the split falls away.

Case 1: starting full-time work overseas

This is the most common case for people moving abroad for a job, and it can apply to remote work for a UK employer. You must:

• Have been resident last year: you were UK resident in the previous tax year.

• Be non-resident next year: through the full-time work abroad test, meaning under 91 UK days and under 31 UK workdays in that year.

• Work full-time overseas: an average of 35 hours a week from the day you start working abroad to 5 April, with no significant break.

• Stay within the limits: keep your UK days and UK workdays in the overseas part within limits that shrink the later in the year you start.

The overseas part begins on the first day you do more than three hours' work overseas in the qualifying period. See our guide to working remotely abroad for a UK company.

Image 2 — Case 1 limits by start month

A UK workday is more than 3 hours' work in the UK.

Worked example: starting a job in Singapore

• Hannah starts full-time work in Singapore on 1 September 2026.

• Her UK part runs from 6 April to 31 August 2026, and her overseas part from 1 September 2026 to 5 April 2027.

• Because she starts in September, she can spend up to 52 days in the UK in the overseas part, with no more than 17 of them UK workdays.

• In 2027/28 she must meet the full-time work abroad test outright: fewer than 91 UK days and fewer than 31 UK workdays.

• Her salary from 1 September is outside UK tax, apart from pay for any UK workdays.

👉 HMRC manual: Case 1 permitted limits by start month (RFIG21070)

Case 2: accompanying a partner overseas

Case 2 is for the partner who moves abroad with, or to join, someone who qualifies under Case 1. You must be married, in a civil partnership or living together as a couple. From the day you move, you must either have no UK home, or spend more time in your overseas home than in any UK home, and your UK days in the overseas part must stay within a limit that starts at 90 and reduces by month.

Case 3: ceasing to have a UK home

Case 3 fits people leaving without a full-time job abroad, such as retirees. You must:

• Give up your UK home: have no home in the UK for the rest of the tax year.

• Keep UK days very low: spend fewer than 16 days in the UK from the day you give up the home to 5 April.

• Link to your new country within six months: become tax resident there, be present there at the end of every day for six months, or have your only home or homes there.

Case 3 is less forgiving than it looks. A UK flat kept available, or a stay with family that goes on too long, can undo it.

👉 HMRC manual: Case 3, ceasing to have a home in the UK (RFIG21130)

Arriving in the UK: Cases 4 to 8

Which case fits an arrival? All five arriving cases need you to have been non-resident in the previous tax year. They stop the UK taxing foreign income you received before you arrived.

• Case 4, starting to have your only home in the UK: your only home becomes a UK home, and you keep a UK home for the rest of the tax year. Before that date, you mustn't have had enough UK ties to be resident, using day limits scaled down for the part of the year concerned.

• Case 5, starting full-time work in the UK: you begin a period of at least 365 days of full-time work in the UK, and before it starts you didn't have enough UK ties to be resident.

• Case 6, ceasing full-time work overseas: you were non-resident last year because you worked full-time abroad, were UK resident in at least one of the four years before that, will be UK resident next year, and kept to the UK day and workday limits before returning.

• Case 7, coming back with a partner: the arrival equivalent of Case 2, for a partner returning with someone who qualifies under Case 6.

• Case 8, starting to have a home in the UK: you start to have a UK home and keep it for the rest of the tax year and all of the next, you're UK resident next year, and before that date you didn't have enough UK ties to be resident.

For arrivals, the months between 6 April and your arrival date need watching. Visits, UK workdays and ties in that period can push you over the limit and make the whole year resident, bringing your pre-arrival foreign income into UK tax.

Split years also count towards the 4-year FIG regime. An arrival split year is the first of your four FIG years, so the timing of your move affects how much relief you get.

👉 HMRC manual: Case 6, ceasing full-time work overseas (RFIG21190)

What if more than one case applies?

Can you choose the case with the best date? No. HMRC's priority rules decide which case applies, and so the date the year splits:

• Leaving: Case 1 takes priority over Cases 2 and 3, and Case 2 over Case 3.

• Arriving: where Case 6 or 7 overlaps with Case 5, the case with the earliest split date applies. Where two or more of Cases 4, 5 and 8 apply, the earliest split date wins.

👉 HMRC manual: when split year treatment applies and the priority rules (RFIG21030)

How do you claim split year treatment?

Where does the claim go? On the SA109 residence pages of your Self Assessment return. You give the date you left or arrived and the case that applies, then report only the income and gains taxable in the UK part, plus UK-source income for the overseas part.

HMRC's free online filing service can't submit the SA109, so you'll need commercial software, an adviser or a paper return. If you don't need a return and are simply leaving a PAYE job, form P85 tells HMRC you've gone, but the split year itself still depends on the conditions above. See do I need to file a UK tax return.

Keep evidence that supports the claim, because HMRC can ask for it:

• Travel records: boarding passes, passport stamps and a day-by-day diary of where you were at midnight.

• Work evidence: employment contracts, timesheets and anything showing where you worked each day.

• Home evidence: tenancy agreements, completion statements and utility bills for homes in both countries.

👉 HMRC form: SA109 residence, remittance basis etc

Common split year mistakes

Where do claims go wrong? The same few issues come up again and again:

• Coming back too soon: leaving cases depend on being non-resident the following year. Return early and the split year falls away, with extra tax on the overseas part.

• Keeping a UK home: a house left empty for visits can defeat Case 3, and weigh against Case 2.

• Too many UK workdays: under Case 1, a few extra days working from the UK can breach the monthly limit.

• Assuming the date you fly is the split date: each case has its own rule for when the overseas part starts or ends.

• Returning within five years: gains and some income from your time abroad can be taxed when you come back. See the temporary non-residence rules.

There's no partial credit. You either meet every condition of a case or the whole year stays resident, so plan the move before it happens. If you'd like the conditions checked against your own dates before you go, see our Statutory Residence Test service.

Frequently asked questions

What is split year treatment and do I qualify?

Split-year treatment divides a tax year into a UK part, where you are taxed as a UK resident, and an overseas part, where the UK generally taxes only your UK-source income. You may qualify if you leave or arrive in the UK part-way through a tax year and meet one of eight cases, such as leaving to work full-time abroad or arriving to make your only home in the UK. You do not choose it: it applies when you meet the conditions, and you report it on the SA109 pages of your tax return.

Do I have to claim split year treatment?

You claim it on the SA109 residence pages of your tax return, giving your departure or arrival date and the case that applies.

Can I get split year treatment if I retire abroad?

Usually through Case 3. You must give up your UK home, spend fewer than 16 days in the UK for the rest of the tax year, and become resident in, or have your only home in, your new country within six months.

What happens if I return to the UK too soon after a split year?

The leaving cases require you to be non-resident in the following tax year. If you aren't, split year treatment doesn't apply, and you're taxed as UK resident for the whole of the departure year.

Does split year treatment apply when I move to the UK?

Yes, through Cases 4 to 8, provided you were non-resident in the previous tax year. The most common are starting to have your only home in the UK and starting full-time work in the UK.