Statutory Residence Test (SRT) – UK Tax Residency Explained
The Statutory Residence Test (SRT), introduced in the Finance Act 2013, provides a clear framework for determining UK tax residency. Before 2013, residency was assessed mainly through case law and HMRC guidance, making it subjective and unpredictable. The SRT replaced this with precise rules based on days spent in the UK and connections, or “ties,” to the country.
Why Tax Residency Matters
Tax residency determines the scope of UK tax liability. A UK resident is generally taxed on worldwide income and gains, while a non-resident is usually only taxed on UK-source income, such as UK employment, business profits, or property rental. Residency also affects Inheritance Tax (IHT), with long-term UK residents (10 out of 20 years) facing IHT on worldwide assets from April 2025.
How does residence interact with domicile and ordinary residence (the latter now abolished)?
Residence
Determines where you are treated as living for UK tax purposes in a given year. Since 2013, the Statutory Residence Test (SRT) applies, using day-counting rules and “ties” (family, work, accommodation, etc.) to assess residency.
Domicile (Partially abolished 2025)
Refers to your legal “home country”, usually your place of origin unless you permanently settle elsewhere. Pre-April 2025: Domicile was central to UK tax — non-domiciled but resident individuals could claim the remittance basis, paying UK tax only on foreign income and gains brought into the UK. From April 2025: Domicile no longer affects income and capital gains tax. Tax liability is based solely on residence. However, domicile still matters for Inheritance Tax (IHT) until fully replaced by the proposed long-term residence rules.
Ordinary Residence (abolished 2013)
Used to reflect whether someone was habitually resident in the UK year after year. Affected access to some reliefs, e.g. Overseas Workday Relief (OWR). Abolished from April 2013 as it overlapped with the modern residence rules.
How the SRT Works
The SRT is applied in three sequential layers. First, the Automatic Overseas Tests determine non-residency if an individual spends very few days in the UK or works full-time abroad with minimal UK presence. If these do not apply, the Automatic UK Tests determine residency, for example if someone spends 183 or more days in the UK, has a UK home for a significant period, or works full-time in the UK.
If neither automatic test applies, the Sufficient Ties Test comes into play. This test considers the number of days spent in the UK alongside connections such as family, accommodation, work, prior UK presence, and whether the UK was the country where the individual spent the most days during the year. The number of ties required depends on prior UK residency history.
How does the SRT interact with double tax treaties when someone is resident in more than one country?
You can be classed as a resident in the UK through SRT, but through other countries rules also be classed as a resident in their country. That creates dual residence, meaning both countries could try to tax your worldwide income.
In order to avoid double taxation, the UK has a wide network of Double Tax Treaties. This means when both the UK and another country claim residence, the treaty applies a tie-breaker test to assign you to one country only for treaty purposes.The SRT result still applies domestically (for UK law), but the treaty determines which country has the primary taxing rights.
Statutory Residence Test structure
The Statutory Residence Test (SRT) has three parts:
- Automatic Overseas Tests
- Automatic UK Tests
- Sufficient Ties Test
The tests are applied in order:
- If you meet any Automatic Overseas Test, you are non-resident for that tax year.
- If not, you then consider the Automatic UK Tests. Meeting any of these makes you UK resident.
- If neither set of automatic tests applies, you then use the Sufficient Ties Test. This combines your UK day-count with the number of connection factors (“ties”) to decide residence
The reason for following the correct order when testing if you are a UK tax resident is because it is the quickest route to identify if you are or are not a UK resident, avoiding unnecessary time spent on the process.
A day present in the UK for tax purposes is judged by the “midnight rule”, it doesn’t matter what time you arrived earlier that day, or how long you were physically present in the UK, if you were present in the UK at 00:00, the day counts. Therefore if you fly into the UK and fly out the same day you can avoid triggering a UK day. However, under the Deeming Rule, this can only be done for 30 days before potentially triggering residency.
SRT Test Breakdown
Below is a breakdown of the individual sub-tests within the SRT.
The Automatic Overseas Test criteria to pass:
You are non-UK resident if you meet any of the Automatic Overseas Tests.
- In the relevant tax year the individual must have spent fewer than 16 days in the UK.
- In the relevant tax year the individual must have spent fewer than 46 days in the UK.
- In the relevant tax year the individual must have worked overseas full time and spend fewer than 91 days in the UK in the tax year. The individual must not have spent more than 31 days in the UK working more than 3 hours per day.
Automatic UK Tests
You are UK resident if you meet any of the Automatic UK Tests.
- You’ll be UK resident if you spend 183 days or more in the UK
-
You will be a UK resident for the tax year if you have or had a home in the UK for all or part of the year and all the other following applies
- There is or was at least one period of 91 consecutive days when you had a home in the UK
- At least 30 of these 91 days fall in the tax year when you have a home in the UK and you’ve been present in that home for at least 30 days during the year
- At the time you had no overseas home, or if you had an overseas home you were present in it for fewer than 30 days
- You will be a UK resident if you work full time in the UK for any of the 365 days that fall into the tax year
Sufficient ties test
If neither automatic set applies, you fall into the “grey zone”. Here your residence is determined by combining:
- Days spent in the UK
- Number of UK ties (family tie, accommodation tie, work tie, 90-day tie, country tie).
- If you qualify as a UK resident under this test you are a Tie-Based Resident
Below are areas that are considered “ties” by the HMRC:
- A family tie: marital or civil partner (if living together either in UK or overseas or both), child (if under 18 years old and spend 61 days or more with in UK)
- An accommodation tie: accommodation available to them for a continuous period of 91 days or more during that tax year and they spend 1 or more night there during that period or if it is home of a close relative (parent, grandparent, brother, sister, child,
- A work tie : worked more than 3 hours a day in the UK for at least 40 days a year (intermittent or continuous)
- A 90 day tie - spent 90 days or more in the UK for either or both previous tax years
- Country Tie: if the UK was the country they were present in for the greatest number of days at midnight during the tax year
The number of days an individual spent in the UK in the tax year dictates the number of ties needed to be a UK Resident
Table References for the Sufficient Ties Test
Table for Ties required if individual was UK resident in 1 or more of the 3 tax years before the year under consideration
| Days Spent in the UK | UK Ties Needed |
|---|---|
| 16 - 45 | At least 4 |
| 46-90 | At least 3 |
| 91-120 | At least 2 |
| Over 120 | At least 1 |
Table for Ties required if individual was not UK resident in any of the 3 tax years before the tax year under consideration
| Days Spent in the UK | UK Ties Needed |
|---|---|
| 46 - 90 | At least 4 |
| 91 - 120 | At least 3 |
| over 120 | At least 2 |
How does the SRT treat workdays, and why is the 3-hour threshold significant?
A UK workday is defined as any day in which you do more than 3 hours of work in the UK. HMRC guidance says this includes meetings, phone calls, emails, or other duties performed while physically in the UK.
The 3-hour threshold prevents trivial activities (like answering one short email or making a quick call) from being counted as a workday. It provides an objective standard so taxpayers and HMRC aren’t left arguing about what counts as a “day’s work.”
What is split year treatment?
Split Year Treatment (SYT) is a key feature of the UK’s Statutory Residence Test (SRT) that allows someone to not be treated as a UK resident for the entire tax year if they arrive in or leave the UK part-way through a tax year.
SYT allows the tax year to be “split” into two parts:
- A non-resident part (before arrival or after departure).
- A resident part (after arrival or before departure).
In the non-resident part, you’re taxed only on UK-source income. In the resident part, you’re taxed on your worldwide income (subject to any remittance or FIG rules).
In order to qualify for split year treatment you must first be classed as a UK resident overall for the tax year. Common reasons for claiming SYT:
Arrivals (becoming UK resident part-way through the year)
- Starting to work full-time in the UK.
- Ceasing to have a home overseas and establishing a home in the UK.
- Starting to have a UK-only home.
- Coming to the UK to live with a UK resident partner.
Leavers (ceasing UK residence part-way through the year)
- Starting full-time work overseas
- Ceasing to have a UK home.
- Leaving the UK to join a partner overseas.
- Certain other limited scenarios (e.g. accompanying a partner abroad in work situations).
Always consult a tax professional when you are unsure about anything related to your residency status in the UK.
What are exceptional cases?
There are special rules / carve-outs for people whose work requires them to be outside the UK for long stretches, often without real choice. These are often called “exceptional cases” or “special circumstances”. These can for instance allow individuals to be overseas and remain treated as continuing UK residents, regardless of time abroad. For instance:
- Crown employees (Includes members of the UK civil service, diplomats, overseas staff, etc.)
- Armed Forces personnel
- Seafarers- There’s a long-standing relief called the Seafarers’ Earnings Deduction (SED), which can exempt up to 100% of earnings from duties performed outside the UK if certain conditions are met.
Which forms are needed to declare or claim non-residence (e.g., SA109) on Self Assessment?
In the UK, if you need to declare or claim non-residence on your Self Assessment tax return, the relevant form is the SA109 “Residence, remittance basis etc.” supplementary pages.
SA109 (Residence, remittance basis etc.)
This is the form you complete if you need to declare:
- You are non-resident or part-year resident under the Statutory Residence Test (SRT).
- You are claiming the remittance basis.
- You are dual resident (resident in the UK and another country under double tax treaties).
- Split year treatment applies.
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