The Statutory Residence Test explained for Brits

Moving abroad doesn't end your UK tax residence; passing the Statutory Residence Test does, and it's a counting game with rules.

The short version

Since 6 April 2013, UK tax residence for income tax and capital gains tax has been decided by the Statutory Residence Test (SRT), one tax year at a time [1][2].
You work through it in order: the automatic overseas tests, then the automatic UK tests, then the sufficient ties test [1].
Most leavers become non-resident by spending fewer than 16 days in the UK, or by working full time abroad and keeping UK visits under 91 days [1].
A "day" in the UK generally means you were here at midnight, but the deeming rule can add days for frequent visitors with three or more ties [3][4].
Leave for five years or less and the temporary non-residence rules can tax some income and gains when you come back [1].

How the test is put together

HMRC's guidance note RDR3 sets out the order. First, check whether you meet any of the automatic overseas tests. If you do, you're non-resident for that tax year and you stop there. If not, check the automatic UK tests. If you meet one of those, you're resident. If you meet neither, the sufficient ties test decides it by weighing your days in the UK against your connections here [1].

One rule overrides everything: 183 days or more in the UK in a tax year makes you UK resident [1]. Tax years run 6 April to 5 April, so the current one is 2026/27.

The automatic overseas tests

These are the ones you want to meet, because they settle the question cleanly [1].

Test	Who it's for	The condition
First	You were UK resident in one or more of the previous three tax years (most leavers)	Fewer than 16 days in the UK in the tax year
Second	You were UK resident in none of the previous three tax years	Fewer than 46 days in the UK
Third	You work full time overseas over the tax year	Fewer than 91 days in the UK, fewer than 31 days working more than three hours in the UK, and no significant break from the overseas work

A "significant break" means at least 31 days in a row with no day on which you worked more than three hours overseas, with an allowance for days of annual, sick or parenting leave [1]. Whether you work "full time" overseas is worked out with HMRC's sufficient-hours calculation, which averages your hours across the year, so a part-time role usually won't get you through the third test.

For the typical early-retiree who moved to the Algarve, the first test is the main route. Fifteen days a year back in Blighty is not much: Christmas, a wedding and a funeral can use it up.

The automatic UK tests

If you don't meet an overseas test, check these. Meeting any one of them makes you UK resident [1]:

183 days. You spend 183 days or more in the UK in the tax year.
The home test. You have a UK home for a period of 91 consecutive days, at least 30 of which fall in the tax year, you're present there on at least 30 days in the year, and you either have no overseas home or spend fewer than 30 days in it. Each UK home is looked at separately.
Full-time UK work. You work full time in the UK for a 365-day period, and more than 75% of your days with more than three hours' work in that period are UK days.

The home test is the one that catches people who move abroad but keep the family house "just in case". A rented-out house that you can't live in is usually not your home; a house you leave empty and pop back to may well be.

The sufficient ties test

If no automatic test applies, you count your UK ties and compare them with your UK days [1]. There are five ties, with detailed rules in HMRC's residence manual:

Family tie: your spouse, civil partner or partner (if you live together as a couple), or a child under 18, is UK resident. You don't have a tie through a child if you see them in the UK on fewer than 61 days in the tax year [5].
Accommodation tie: a place to live in the UK is available to you for at least 91 consecutive days in the year and you spend at least one night there. If it's the home of a close relative, such as a parent or a grown-up child, you need to spend at least 16 nights there [6].
Work tie: you work more than three hours a day in the UK on at least 40 days in the year [7].
90-day tie: you spent more than 90 days in the UK in either or both of the previous two tax years [8].
Country tie: the UK is where you were at midnight on the most days in the year. This one only counts for leavers, people resident in at least one of the previous three years [1][9].

Then use the right table. For leavers, people who were UK resident in at least one of the previous three tax years [1]:

Days in the UK in the tax year	You're UK resident if you have
16 to 45	at least 4 ties
46 to 90	at least 3 ties
91 to 120	at least 2 ties
Over 120	at least 1 tie

For arrivers, people not resident in any of the previous three years, the bar is higher: all four ties for 46 to 90 days, three for 91 to 120, and two for over 120 [1].

Counting the days

The basic rule is simple: you've spent a day in the UK if you're here at midnight [3]. A few twists:

Transit days. Arriving in the UK and leaving the next day on your way somewhere else can be ignored if you do nothing in between that isn't connected with the journey. The rules are tight, so a night out in Manchester between flights doesn't qualify.
Exceptional circumstances. Days you're forced to stay because of something beyond your control, such as sudden serious illness or a national emergency, can be excluded from the count for some parts of the test. HMRC sets a limit and expects evidence [3].
The deeming rule. If you were UK resident in one or more of the previous three tax years, have at least three UK ties and spent more than 30 "qualifying days" in the UK (days here but not at midnight), the days beyond the first 30 count as UK days anyway [4]. It exists to stop people flying out at 11pm on a Sunday.

Keep a record as you go: flights, boarding passes, card statements. HMRC's manual has a whole section on record keeping because disputes come down to evidence [2].

The mistakes that keep Brits UK resident

Keeping the family home available. A house sitting empty for you creates an accommodation tie, and can trigger the home test outright.
A partner or children left behind. If your spouse stays in the UK to finish a job or the school year, that's a family tie for that year.
Working on UK visits. Forty days of answering emails for more than three hours from the kitchen table in Croydon is a work tie. For people using the third overseas test, 31 UK workdays breaks it.
Forgetting the 90-day tie. In your first year or two away, it usually applies automatically, because you spent most of the previous years here.
Assuming the year you leave is split. It isn't, unless you meet one of the split-year cases. Our split-year guide explains them.
Coming back too soon. If you had sole UK residence in four or more of the seven tax years before you left and you're away for five years or less, some income and gains you received while away can be taxed when you return [1].

Being non-resident in the UK also doesn't mean you're tax resident nowhere. Your new country has its own rules, and you could be resident in both. A tax treaty then decides who gets first bite, which we cover in double taxation agreements and reliefs. If your days and ties sit near the edges, a tax adviser who knows both countries can check your case.

The Statutory Residence Test explained: are you still UK resident?