UK Statutory Residence Test: Are You UK Resident?

Key points

You are UK resident or non-resident for a whole tax year, from 6 April to 5 April, and the Statutory Residence Test decides which.

✓ Work through three steps in order: the automatic overseas tests, the automatic UK tests, then the sufficient ties test.

✓ Fewer than 16 UK days makes you non-resident if you were UK resident in any of the last three tax years. Otherwise the limit is fewer than 46.

✓ 183 or more UK days in the tax year always makes you UK resident.

✓ In between, your UK ties decide it. A leaver with three ties is resident from 46 days.

✓ A UK day is one where you are here at midnight, and frequent day trips can be added back.

If you are UK resident, you are taxed on your worldwide income and gains. If you are non-resident, the UK generally only taxes UK-source income, such as rent and UK workdays, and gains on UK land and property.

Since 6 April 2025, residence matters even more. Domicile has gone from UK tax, so the SRT now also decides who can claim the 4-year FIG regime and who is caught by inheritance tax on their worldwide estate. This guide covers the key terms, the three steps of the test, the days and ties tables, split years, dual residence and how to evidence your position.

Watch: The UK Statutory Residence Test explained: are you UK tax resident?

Why does your residence status matter so much?

Your status for the year decides which parts of UK tax apply to you:

➜ UK resident: tax on worldwide income and gains as they arise. The remittance basis was abolished from 6 April 2025.

➜ New arrivals: if you were non-resident for the 10 consecutive tax years before you arrive, you can claim four years of relief on foreign income and gains. See our guide to the 📖 4-year FIG regime.

➜ Non-resident: tax on UK-source income and UK property gains only, with most other gains outside UK tax. See 📖 what the UK still taxes once you have left.

➜ Short absences: if you return within five years, some gains and income from your time abroad can be taxed when you come back. See our guide to the 📖 temporary non-residence rules.

➜ Inheritance tax: if you have been UK resident in 10 of the previous 20 tax years, you are a long-term resident and your worldwide estate is in scope, with a tail of up to 10 years after you leave.

The SRT is applied one tax year at a time, from 6 April to 5 April. Your status can change from year to year, and you have to work it out afresh each year.

👉 HMRC guidance: RDR3 Statutory Residence Test

👉 The law: Finance Act 2013, Schedule 45 (the statutory residence test)

Key terms to know before you start

The SRT is a counting exercise, and the counts depend on precise meanings that do not always match everyday language.

➜ A day in the UK: you are in the UK at the end of the day, meaning midnight. A day trip that ends before midnight does not count, subject to the deeming rule below.

➜ Transit days: if you arrive as a passenger and leave the next day, without doing anything substantially unrelated to your journey, the midnight does not count.

➜ Exceptional circumstances: up to 60 days a year can be ignored if you are kept in the UK by events beyond your control, such as sudden serious illness or a natural disaster.

➜ The deeming rule: if you were UK resident in at least one of the previous three tax years, have at least three UK ties, and are in the UK on more than 30 days without staying at midnight, every such day after the 30th counts as a UK day.

➜ A workday: a day on which you do more than three hours' work in the UK.

➜ A home: a place with a degree of permanence that you use as your home, owned or rented. A holiday home you only visit occasionally usually is not a home, though it can still be accommodation.

👉 HMRC manual: days spent in the UK, the deeming rule and transit days (RFIG20700)

👉 The law: Finance Act 2013, Schedule 45, paragraphs 22 and 23 (days spent and the deeming rule)

How the SRT works: three steps, in order

You work through three sets of tests in strict order. The first one that gives an answer settles your status for the year, and you stop there.

Image 1: work through the tests in this order

You cannot skip ahead. If you meet an automatic overseas test, you are non-resident, even if you would otherwise meet an automatic UK test. Only if nothing in steps one and two applies do you reach the sufficient ties test.

Step 1: the automatic overseas tests

You are automatically non-resident for the year if you meet any one of these:

➜ Fewer than 16 UK days: and you were UK resident in one or more of the previous three tax years.

➜ Fewer than 46 UK days: and you were not UK resident in any of the previous three tax years.

➜ Full-time work abroad: you work an average of 35 hours or more a week overseas with no significant break, have fewer than 31 UK workdays, and spend fewer than 91 days in the UK.

A significant break is 31 days or more with no overseas work of over three hours, ignoring annual leave, sick leave and parenting leave. A gap between contracts can break the full-time work test even when the rest of the year is fine.

👉 HMRC manual: automatic overseas tests (RFIG20100)

👉 The law: Finance Act 2013, Schedule 45, paragraphs 11 to 16 (automatic overseas tests)

Step 2: the automatic UK tests

If no overseas test applies, you are automatically UK resident if you meet any one of these:

➜ 183 days: you spend 183 days or more in the UK in the tax year.

➜ Only home in the UK: there is a period of at least 91 consecutive days, 30 of them in the tax year, when you have a UK home and spend at least 30 days there, and either have no overseas home or spend fewer than 30 days at it in the year.

➜ Full-time work in the UK: over a 365-day period you work an average of 35 hours a week, with no significant break, and more than 75% of your workdays are in the UK.

👉 HMRC manual: automatic UK tests (RFIG20300)

👉 The law: Finance Act 2013, Schedule 45, paragraphs 6 to 10 (automatic UK tests)

Step 3: the sufficient ties test

Most people who have left the UK but still visit regularly are decided here, by their UK days and UK ties together. There are five ties:

➜ Family tie: your spouse, civil partner or partner you live with, or a child under 18, is UK resident. A child who is only resident because of full-time education in the UK, and spends fewer than 21 days here outside term, does not count.

➜ Accommodation tie: you have a place to live in the UK available for at least 91 consecutive days in the year, and spend at least one night there. If it belongs to a close relative, you need 16 nights.

➜ Work tie: you have 40 or more UK workdays in the year.

➜ 90-day tie: you spent more than 90 days in the UK in either or both of the previous two tax years.

➜ Country tie: you spend more midnights in the UK than in any other single country. This tie only applies to leavers, meaning people who were UK resident in at least one of the previous three tax years.

The more days you spend in the UK, the fewer ties it takes to make you resident. Leavers are held to a stricter scale than arrivers.

Image 2: the more days you spend in the UK, the fewer ties it takes to make a leaver resident

If you were UK resident in any of the last three tax years

If you were not UK resident in any of the last three tax years

👉 HMRC manual: the sufficient ties test (RFIG20500)

👉 The law: Finance Act 2013, Schedule 45, paragraphs 17 to 19 and 31 to 38 (sufficient ties test and UK ties)

Worked example: counting Tom's ties for 2026/27

Tom leaves the UK for Portugal in March 2026 and does not work. His wife stays in the UK to finish her job, and their family home stays available whenever he visits.

With three ties, Tom is non-resident only at 45 UK days or fewer. Work out your own position with our leaving the UK calculator.

The 90-day tie is the one people forget. Because it looks back two tax years, Tom's 200 days in 2025/26 also give him a 90-day tie for 2027/28. It only falls away once he has two consecutive years of 90 days or fewer behind him.

Split-year treatment: dividing the year you move

The SRT gives you a single status for the whole tax year, so if you leave the UK in September you will usually still be UK resident for that year.

Split-year treatment can divide that year into a UK part and an overseas part, so income and gains in the overseas part are taxed as if you were non-resident. It is not automatic. You must fit one of eight specific cases, three for leaving and five for arriving, and claim it on the SA109 residence pages of your tax return.

See our guide to 📖 all eight split-year cases. If you are leaving to work abroad for a UK employer, see 📖 working remotely abroad for a UK company.

👉 HMRC manual: split year treatment (RFIG21000)

👉 The law: Finance Act 2013, Schedule 45, Part 3 (split year treatment)

What if you are resident in two countries?

Yes, you can be UK resident and resident somewhere else at the same time. The SRT only decides UK residence. Your new country applies its own rules, and it is common to be resident in both for a year, especially around a move.

Where there is a double tax treaty, its tie-breaker test decides which country you are resident in for treaty purposes. It looks at your permanent home, then your centre of vital interests, then where you habitually live, then nationality. The tie-breaker does not change your SRT status, but it can limit what the UK is allowed to tax.

See our guides to 📖 dual residence and tie-breaker rules and 📖 how double tax treaties give relief.

Common SRT mistakes

These are the mistakes that come up again and again:

➜ Relying on the 183-day rule. Staying under 183 days only rules out one automatic UK test. With enough ties, 46 days can be enough to make a leaver resident. See 📖 why the 183-day rule is a myth.

➜ Counting days, not midnights. The count is based on where you are at the end of the day, and the deeming rule can add back frequent day trips.

➜ Assuming a job abroad is enough. The full-time work abroad test needs 35 hours a week on average, no significant break, and UK days and workdays under the limits.

➜ Keeping a UK base available. A flat, a family home or a regular room at a relative's house can each give you an accommodation tie.

➜ Forgetting last year. The 90-day tie looks back two years, so your first years abroad are usually the hardest to get right.

➜ Treating paperwork as proof. A P85, a foreign residence permit or a tax certificate from your new country does not make you non-resident in the UK. Only the SRT does.

How to evidence your position

You do not have to prove you are non-resident up front. Residence is self-assessed: you declare it on the SA109 residence pages of your tax return, and HMRC only asks for evidence if it opens an enquiry. By then you may be several years on, so the records need to exist now.

➜ Track every day. Record each UK arrival and departure, and note any day trips that could count under the deeming rule.

➜ Log UK workdays. Note any day you work more than three hours in the UK, including emails and calls.

➜ Review your ties each April. Check family, accommodation, work, the 90-day tie and the country tie before the tax year starts, not after.

➜ Keep the evidence. Boarding passes, passport stamps, travel bookings, tenancy agreements and work calendars all support your day count.

👉 HMRC manual: record keeping for the SRT (RFIG21900)

Frequently asked questions

How does the Statutory Residence Test work?

It decides whether you are UK tax resident for a tax year, in three steps. First, the automatic overseas tests: meet one and you are non-resident. Second, the automatic UK tests: meet one, such as spending 183 days or more in the UK, and you are resident. Third, if neither applies, the sufficient ties test compares your days in the UK with your UK ties, such as family, accommodation and work.

How many days can I spend in the UK without becoming tax resident?

It depends on your ties and history. Fewer than 16 days is always safe, or fewer than 46 if you were not UK resident in the previous three years. Above that, your number of UK ties decides it, and 183 days always makes you resident.

Does a day count if I leave the UK before midnight?

Generally no, because a UK day is one where you are here at midnight. But if you were UK resident in any of the last three years and have three or more ties, day trips beyond 30 in a year are counted under the deeming rule.

Can I be UK tax resident without a home in the UK?

Yes. You can be resident by spending 183 days here, through full-time work in the UK, or under the sufficient ties test through family, accommodation, work, 90-day and country ties, none of which need a UK home.

What is the country tie in the Statutory Residence Test?

You have a country tie if you spend more midnights in the UK than in any other single country during the tax year, including where the UK is tied for the most. It only applies if you were UK resident in at least one of the previous three tax years.

How do I tell HMRC I am non-resident?

If you file a tax return, you claim non-residence and any split year on the SA109 residence pages. If you do not file, you tell HMRC you have left using form P85. Neither makes you non-resident: your status still comes from the SRT.

Last reviewed on 11 October 2026 by Emma McDermott, ATT, founder of Global Tax Consulting, in line with the law in force at that date: the statutory residence test in Finance Act 2013, Schedule 45, and HMRC guidance RDR3.