Q. I have worked overseas in various locations for the past 8 years and have not been resident in the UK in all this time, except for occasional visits/holiday.
I understand that in recent times HMRC has sneaked in some legislation putting a restriction on how many days per annum people like me can spend in the UK in any given tax year without being classified as a “resident”.
I have spoken to 3 employment agencies in the past 2 weeks and have been given differing answers about the number of days one may spend in the UK. One party advised 62 days, two others said 90 days and a friend has said 60 days.
My question is : do you know the general answer or can you please point me in the direction where I can find this information.
A. As from 06.04.13, an individual’s residence is determined by reference to the Statutory Residence Test (SRT). It is simplest to think of the SRT as being divided into three parts:
- the ‘automatic overseas tests’;
- the ‘automatic UK tests’; and
- the ‘sufficient ties test’.
These are ranked in order of priority, so if somebody qualifies under one of the ‘automatic overseas tests’ as not resident, there is no need to move on to the ‘automatic UK’ or ‘sufficient ties tests’.
The basic rule is that you will be resident in the UK for a tax year and at all times in that tax year (unless you qualify for split year treatment) if you do not meet any of the automatic overseas tests and you meet one of the automatic UK tests or the sufficient ties test.
You’re automatically resident if either:
- you spent 183 or more days in the UK in the tax year
- your only home was in the UK – you must have owned, rented or lived in it for at least 91 days in total – and you spent at least 30 days there in the tax year
You’re automatically non-resident if either:
- you spent less than 16 days in the UK (or 46 days if you haven’t been classed as UK resident for the 3 previous tax years)
- you work abroad full-time (averaging at least 35 hours a week) and spent less than 91 days in the UK, of which less than 31 days were spent working
You should take the following steps to ascertain your residence status under the SRT:
Step 1
Consider whether you spent 183 days in the UK in the tax year. If you did, you will be resident in the UK. If not:
Step 2
Consider the three automatic overseas tests. If you meet one of these you are not UK resident, If you did not:
Step 3
Consider if you meet the second and third UK tests. If you meet one of these, you are UK resident. If you did not:
Step 4
Consider the sufficient ties test. If you meet this you are UK resident. If you do not meet this, you are not UK resident.
HMRC’s SRT guidance can be found by clicking HERE
You can check your residency status by using HMRC’s online Tax Residence Indicator by clicking HERE
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