Guide · International Tax
UK Statutory Residence Test 2026/27 -- How to Determine Your Tax Residency
The Statutory Residence Test (SRT) is the definitive legal test for determining whether an individual is UK tax resident in any given tax year. Introduced by Finance Act 2013 and applying from 6 April 2013, it replaced a patchwork of case law and HMRC guidance with a structured three-stage framework. Getting the SRT right is critical: it determines whether you pay UK tax on your worldwide income and gains, or only on UK-source items. This guide explains all three stages with day-count tables and worked examples for both leavers and arrivers.
SRT quick reference -- 2026/27
- UK day: present in UK at midnight (transit days can be disregarded, max 10)
- Automatic non-resident (AO1): fewer than 16 UK days
- Automatic non-resident (AO2): fewer than 46 UK days + non-resident in all 3 prior years
- Automatic UK resident (AU1): 183+ UK days
- Full-time overseas work (AO3): 35+ hours/wk average, under 91 UK days
- Sufficient ties test: 1-5 ties, different day thresholds for leavers vs arrivers
Overview: three stages of the SRT
The SRT works through three sequential stages. You stop as soon as one test produces a conclusive answer. The stages are:
- Stage 1 -- Automatic Overseas Tests (AO Tests): if you meet any one of these, you are automatically non-resident. No further analysis needed.
- Stage 2 -- Automatic UK Tests (AU Tests): if you meet any one of these (and no AO Test was met), you are automatically UK resident. No further analysis needed.
- Stage 3 -- Sufficient Ties Test: if neither set of automatic tests is conclusive, your residence depends on how many UK ties you have, combined with your UK day count.
HMRC's key publication is RDR3 -- the "Statutory Residence Test (SRT)" guidance note, which runs to over 100 pages and contains worked examples for most common situations. The statutory basis is Schedule 45 Finance Act 2013.
Stage 1: Automatic Overseas Tests
If any of the three Automatic Overseas Tests is satisfied, you are non-resident for the full tax year.
AO Test 1 -- Fewer than 16 UK days (anyone): If you spend fewer than 16 days in the UK in the tax year, you are automatically non-resident. This applies regardless of how many ties you have and regardless of your prior residence history. It is the simplest and most reliable route to non-residence.
AO Test 2 -- Fewer than 46 UK days (prior non-residents): If you were non-resident in each of the three prior tax years (2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26 for the 2026/27 year), you can spend up to 45 UK days without becoming resident. This test is not available to people who were UK resident in any of those three years.
AO Test 3 -- Full-time overseas work:You are non-resident if you work full-time overseas during the tax year, meaning: an average of 35 or more hours per week of overseas work, you spend fewer than 91 days in the UK in total, and no more than 30 of those UK days are "substantive work" days (days on which you do 3 hours or more of work in the UK). The calculation is performed over any 365-day period within the tax year.
Stage 2: Automatic UK Tests
If no AO Test is met, the Automatic UK Tests are checked. Meeting any one of them makes you UK resident for the full tax year.
AU Test 1 -- 183 or more UK days: Spending 183 or more days in the UK in the tax year automatically makes you UK resident. No ties analysis is needed.
AU Test 2 -- Only or main home in UK:You are automatically resident if you have a UK home that is your only home, or your main home, for a continuous period of at least 91 days (of which at least 30 fall in the tax year), and you visit that home at least 30 times during the tax year period. If you also have an overseas home but spend more time in the UK home, or the UK home is qualitatively more substantial, the UK home may still be the "only or main home".
AU Test 3 -- Full-time work in the UK: You are resident if you work full-time in the UK during the year: 75% or more of your working days are UK working days, over any 365-day period, with fewer than 31 working days outside the UK.
Stage 3: The Sufficient Ties Test
If neither the AO nor AU automatic tests are conclusive -- a common situation for people who spend 46-182 days in the UK each year -- residence is determined by combining the number of UK ties held with the number of UK days. The five possible ties are:
- Family tie: a spouse, civil partner, or unmarried partner who is UK resident; or a child under 18 who is UK resident and you see at least 61 times in the year.
- Accommodation tie: you have a place to live in the UK (owned, rented or available to you) and you spend at least one night there during the year. Staying at a parent's or friend's house counts if it is available to you consistently.
- Work tie: you do substantive UK work (3+ hours) on 40 or more days in the tax year.
- 90-day tie: you spent more than 90 days in the UK in either or both of the two preceding tax years.
- Country tie (leavers only): the UK is the country where you have spent the most time in the current tax year (or one of them, if tied). Not applicable to arrivers.
Day-count thresholds for leavers
A "leaver" is someone who was UK resident in at least one of the three prior tax years.
| Number of ties | Max UK days (non-resident) |
|---|---|
| 0 ties | Up to 45 days |
| 1 tie | Up to 15 days |
| 2 ties | Up to 45 days |
| 3 ties | Up to 90 days |
| 4 ties | Up to 120 days |
| 5 ties | Automatically UK resident |
Day-count thresholds for arrivers
An "arriver" is someone who was non-resident in all three prior UK tax years. Arrivers do not have a country tie (that tie only applies to leavers).
| Number of ties | Max UK days (non-resident) |
|---|---|
| 0 ties | Up to 45 days |
| 1 tie | Up to 45 days |
| 2 ties | Up to 90 days |
| 3 ties | Up to 120 days |
| 4 ties | Up to 182 days |
Worked example: UK professional leaving for Dubai
Sarah is a UK tax resident who moves to Dubai on 1 June 2026. She keeps a flat in London (she plans to rent it out but it is still available to her), her husband stays in the UK with their two children, and she had 120 UK days in 2025/26.
Sarah's ties for 2026/27:
- Family tie: YES (UK-resident spouse + children)
- Accommodation tie: YES (London flat available to her)
- 90-day tie: YES (120 days in 2025/26)
- Country tie: likely YES (UK may be where she spends most time)
- Work tie: depends on whether she does 40+ substantive UK work days
With 3-4 ties as a leaver, Sarah can spend at most 90-120 UK days without becoming resident. If she spends 95 days in the UK visiting family and working briefly, she must carefully count whether the work tie applies (which would push her to 4 ties, reducing her non-resident threshold to 120 days -- she is borderline). She should keep a detailed day-by-day diary and consider reducing UK days or shedding ties (particularly the accommodation tie by renting out the flat on fully commercial terms with no right of access).
Split-year treatment
In the tax year of arrival in or departure from the UK, split-year treatment may divide the year into a UK-resident period and a non-UK-resident period. Only income and gains in the UK-resident period are taxed in the UK on a worldwide basis; in the non-resident period, only UK-source income and gains are subject to UK tax.
There are 9 split-year cases, broadly:
- Cases 1-4: departing the UK (full-time work overseas, accompanying partner to overseas work, ceasing UK home, other)
- Cases 5-8: arriving in the UK (starting full-time UK work, returning as a UK resident, acquiring a UK home, other)
- Case 9: spouses and partners of Cases 1-4 leavers
Split-year treatment is not automatic -- it must be claimed on the residence pages (SA109) of the Self Assessment return. If not claimed, the year is treated as a full year of UK residence or non-residence depending on the SRT outcome.
Record-keeping: why it matters
HMRC has statutory powers to enquire into the residence position for up to 4 years after the relevant tax year (or longer if information was concealed). In practice, HMRC may ask to see evidence of day counts including: passport stamps and boarding passes, hotel receipts, credit card statements, phone records showing location, and diary entries.
Anyone whose residence position is not clearly within an automatic test -- i.e. anyone spending 46-182 days in the UK -- should maintain a contemporaneous travel log showing each day as UK or overseas. Electronic records (iCloud location history, Google Timeline) can support a case but HMRC may not accept them as the sole evidence.