SRT in one paragraph: for any UK tax year, you are UK-resident if you pass any automatic UK test, fail all automatic overseas tests, and meet the sufficient ties test for your day-count. The day-counting rules count midnight presence in the UK. If you spend <16 days in the UK and were resident in 2+ of the last 3 years, you're automatically overseas. If you spend >183 days, you're automatically UK-resident. Between those, the "sufficient ties" test applies — counting family, accommodation, work, day-count, and country ties against a sliding scale.
The three tests in order
HMRC's SRT applies in strict order:
- Automatic overseas test. If you meet ANY of these, you are automatically non-UK-resident — no further tests needed.
- Automatic UK test. If you don't pass any automatic overseas, then check if you meet ANY of these. If yes, automatically UK-resident.
- Sufficient ties test. If neither automatic test resolves your status, count UK ties against your day-count.
Automatic overseas tests
You are automatically non-UK-resident if:
- Test 1: you were resident in the UK in 1 or more of the previous 3 tax years AND you spend less than 16 days in the UK in the current year.
- Test 2: you were NOT UK-resident in any of the previous 3 tax years AND you spend less than 46 days in the UK in the current year.
- Test 3: you work full-time abroad in the tax year with no significant breaks AND you spend fewer than 91 days in the UK AND you work no more than 30 days in the UK during the tax year.
If you pass any automatic overseas test, you're non-resident. Stop here.
Automatic UK tests
You are automatically UK-resident if:
- Test 1: you spend 183 days or more in the UK during the tax year.
- Test 2: your only home is in the UK for at least 91 consecutive days, AND that home was available for at least 30 of those days during the tax year, AND you spent at least 30 of those days in that home in the year.
- Test 3: you work full-time in the UK for 365 days (across two tax years if needed), with no significant breaks, AND a relevant portion of that period falls within the tax year being assessed.
If you pass any automatic UK test, you're UK-resident.
The sufficient ties test
If neither automatic test settles your status, you fall into the sufficient ties test. UK ties:
| Tie | What it means |
|---|---|
| Family tie | UK-resident spouse, civil partner, or minor child in the UK during the tax year |
| Accommodation tie | UK accommodation available to you for at least 91 consecutive days AND you spent at least 1 night there in the year |
| Work tie | You worked in the UK for at least 40 days in the year (3+ hours = a "work day") |
| 90-day tie | You spent more than 90 days in the UK in either of the 2 preceding tax years |
| Country tie | You spent more midnights in the UK than in any other single country (only counts if you were UK-resident in 1+ of the past 3 years — "leaver" rule) |
How ties translate to residency by day-count:
| Days in UK | Ties needed (leaver) | Ties needed (arriver) |
|---|---|---|
| Under 16 | Auto overseas (Test 1) | Auto overseas (Test 2) |
| 16-45 | 4+ ties = resident | Auto overseas |
| 46-90 | 3+ ties | 4+ ties |
| 91-120 | 2+ ties | 3+ ties |
| 121-182 | 1+ tie | 2+ ties |
| 183+ | Auto UK | Auto UK |
Note: "leaver" = resident in any of the previous 3 tax years. "Arriver" = not resident in any of the previous 3 years. Leavers are taxed more easily.
Day-counting rules
The "day" rules:
- A day counts if you are in the UK at midnight (end of day)
- Transit days at airports count if you leave the airport or stay overnight; pure transit (under 24 hours, not leaving airport) does NOT count
- The "deeming rule": if you have 3+ qualifying ties and spent >30 days in UK working at least 3 hours, those extra days count as days even if you weren't there at midnight (rarely applied)
- Exceptional circumstances (illness preventing departure) can disregard up to 60 days per tax year — but you must show why you couldn't have left
Keep a contemporaneous day log: arrival/departure dates, accommodation, evidence (boarding passes, accommodation receipts, work records).
Split-year treatment
Normally, you're either resident or not for an entire tax year. Split-year treatment allows the tax year to be divided into a UK-resident part and a non-resident part in specific cases:
- Case 1: you leave the UK to work full-time overseas
- Case 2: you accompany a spouse who leaves to work full-time overseas
- Case 3: you cease to have a home in the UK
- Case 4: you start to have your only home in the UK
- Case 5: you start full-time work in the UK
- Case 6: you cease working overseas full-time
- Case 7: your spouse ceases working overseas full-time
- Case 8: you start to have a home in the UK
Each case has specific qualifying conditions, including a sub-period of UK presence/absence and the start/end of relevant activity.
Worked example: contractor working in Singapore
Mr R is a UK-domiciled British citizen. In tax year 2026/27 he:
- Works full-time in Singapore from 1 May 2026 to 5 April 2027 (no significant breaks)
- Spends 60 days in the UK in 2026/27 (family visits, conferences)
- Works 5 days in the UK during that 60-day total (under 30, OK)
- Was UK-resident in 2025/26 (so a "leaver" for 2026/27)
SRT analysis:
- Automatic overseas Test 3: full-time work abroad + <91 days UK + <30 work days UK → PASS. Non-UK-resident for 2026/27.
- Split-year Case 1 may apply for 2026/27 if he was UK-resident pre-departure and the move qualifies.
Outcome: Mr R is non-resident for the full 2026/27 tax year. Only UK-source income (e.g., the 5 days' UK work) is taxable in the UK; Singapore employment income is not UK-taxable.
What being non-resident means for your tax
| Income source | UK-resident | Non-resident |
|---|---|---|
| UK employment income | Taxable | Taxable (for UK work) |
| UK self-employment | Taxable | Taxable |
| UK rental income | Taxable | Taxable (NRL scheme) |
| UK savings interest | Taxable above PSA | Generally exempt (disregarded income) |
| UK dividends | Taxable above DA | Generally exempt (disregarded income) |
| UK capital gains (non-property) | Taxable | Generally exempt |
| UK property capital gains | Taxable | Taxable (NRCGT) |
| Overseas employment | Taxable (arising basis) | Not UK-taxable |
| Overseas investments | Taxable (arising basis) | Not UK-taxable |
Common SRT mistakes
- Miscounting days. Boarding passes, accommodation receipts, work records are essential evidence.
- Forgetting the deeming rule. If you have multiple ties and high work-day counts, days can be deemed even when you weren't at midnight.
- Assuming "tax-free" abroad means no UK tax. Non-residence doesn't mean exempt from UK tax on UK-source income (property, gains).
- Missing split-year qualifications. Each case has specific conditions that need to be met.
- Not recording country of midnight properly. The country tie depends on knowing which country you were in each midnight.
- Assuming residency "rolls over". Each tax year is assessed separately.
Sources
Related foreign income content
How UK Tax Drag holds itself to account
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