UK side · 2026 sourced

The UK Statutory Residence Test (SRT), in plain English

The SRT is the test HMRC uses to decide whether you're UK tax resident for a given tax year. Get the analysis wrong moving abroad and you can stay UK tax resident for years you thought you'd escaped — paying UK rates on world income on top of whatever Spain, Portugal or Gibraltar charge you. This is the structured walkthrough: three automatic tests, the sufficient ties fallback, day counting, and split-year treatment.

By Dominic RoworthReviewed 25 May 2026UK 2025/26 + 2026/27 tax years

The TL;DR

The SRT runs in a strict order. Step 1: check the three automatic overseas tests — if you pass any, you're non-resident, full stop. Step 2: if not, check the four automatic UK tests — if you pass any, you're resident. Step 3: if neither, run the sufficient ties test — combining your UK days with the number of UK ties you have. Layer split-year treatment on top to handle the move year itself.

Step 1: the three automatic overseas tests

Pass any one of these and HMRC treats you as non-UK-resident automatically for the tax year. Most British movers planning a clean exit aim to satisfy one of these three.

First automatic overseas test (leaver)

You were UK resident for one or more of the three preceding tax years, AND you spend fewer than 16 days in the UK during the current tax year.

Second automatic overseas test (arriver)

You were not UK resident in any of the three preceding tax years, AND you spend fewer than 46 days in the UK during the current tax year.

Third automatic overseas test (full-time work abroad)

You work full-time overseas for the whole tax year with no significant break, AND you spend fewer than 91 days in the UK in the tax year, AND you work in the UK for more than 3 hours on fewer than 31 days. This is the most common route for working-age movers — but the “no significant break” rule (no 31+ consecutive days without 3+ hours of work or annual leave) is strict and trips many people.

Step 2: the four automatic UK tests

If you didn't pass an automatic overseas test, check these. Pass any one and you're automatically UK resident.

183-day test: you spend 183+ days in the UK in the tax year.
UK home test: you have a UK home for at least 91 consecutive days (with at least 30 of those falling within the tax year), AND you spend at least 30 days in that UK home during the tax year, AND there is no overseas home in which you spend at least 30 days during the relevant period.
Full-time UK work test: you work in the UK for 365 days with no significant break, AND more than 75% of working days are UK days (3+ hours), AND at least one UK workday falls in the tax year.
Death-in-UK test: niche — applies to those who die in the UK during the tax year having been UK resident.

Step 3: the sufficient ties test

If neither the automatic overseas nor automatic UK tests apply, the sufficient ties test combines your UK days with your UK ties to determine residence. The required number of ties depends on whether you're a leaver or an arriver and how many UK days you spend.

UK days in tax year	Leaver (resident in any of prior 3 years)	Arriver (not resident in any of prior 3 years)
Under 16	Auto non-resident (test 1)	Auto non-resident (test 2)
16-45	Resident if 4 ties	Auto non-resident
46-90	Resident if 3+ ties	Resident if 4 ties
91-120	Resident if 2+ ties	Resident if 3+ ties
121-182	Resident if 1+ tie	Resident if 2+ ties
183+	Auto UK resident	Auto UK resident

The five UK ties

Family tie: spouse/civil partner/cohabitee or minor child who is UK resident in the tax year.
Accommodation tie: UK accommodation available for a continuous period of 91+ days, used at least once in the tax year.
Work tie: at least 40 days in the UK with more than 3 hours of work each.
90-day tie: spent more than 90 days in the UK in either of the previous two tax years.
Country tie (leavers only): the UK is the country in which you spend the most days in the tax year.

Split-year treatment: the move year itself

By default, you're either UK resident or non-resident for a whole tax year. Split- year treatment lets you treat part of the year as UK-resident and part as non-resident — which is what most British movers need for the year they actually leave. HMRC RDR3 lists eight Cases that qualify:

Case 1: starting full-time work overseas
Case 2: accompanying partner starting full-time work overseas
Case 3: ceasing to have a UK home
Case 4: starting to have a home only overseas
Case 5: starting full-time UK work after a period overseas (arriver)
Case 6: ceasing full-time work overseas (arriver)
Case 7: partner ceasing full-time work overseas (arriver)
Case 8: starting to have a UK home (arriver)

Each Case has detailed conditions — meet them all to qualify. The most common leaver Cases are 1 (start full-time overseas job) and 3 (cease having any UK home). Case 3 requires you to have no UK home at all from the split point onwards; selling or letting a UK property to non-family typically satisfies this, but keeping a UK property available for your own use does not.

Common British-mover mistakes

Counting visit days as transit days. Transit only applies if you don't leave the airport for non-incidental purposes. A weekend in London while changing flights = full UK days.
Assuming the 183-day rule alone determines residence. The full SRT can make you UK resident on as few as 16 days if you're a leaver with all 5 ties.
Keeping a UK home “just in case.” The accommodation tie + family tie alone can hold you UK-resident on 91+ days. If you want clean non-residence, you typically need the home let to non-family on at least 91 consecutive days of unavailability to you.
Working from a UK hotel for 31+ days. Breaks the third automatic overseas test. Track every 3+ hour UK work day.
Forgetting the 90-day tie tail. The 90-day tie looks at the previous two tax years — your residence position can stay sticky for two years even after the move year.

FAQ

The cleanest path for most British movers leaving the UK is the third automatic overseas test (full-time work abroad): work overseas for the whole tax year with no significant break, spend fewer than 91 days in the UK in the tax year, and work in the UK for more than 3 hours on fewer than 31 days. If that doesn't apply, the next-simplest is the first automatic overseas test (fewer than 16 UK days) provided you were UK resident in any of the prior three tax years — which most movers are.

A day where you're present in the UK at midnight (the end of the day). Arrival on a Friday afternoon and departure Saturday lunchtime = 1 UK day (the Friday midnight). The "transit day" exception removes days where you're in the UK only between two international flights and don't leave the airport for non-incidental reasons. Work days are counted separately under the "work in the UK on more than 3 hours" test.

Yes, via split-year treatment. The UK tax year (6 April–5 April) is split into a UK part and an overseas part, with you taxed as UK-resident only for the UK part. Eight Cases qualify (RDR3 cases 1-8); the most common for movers are Case 1 (starting full-time work abroad), Case 3 (ceasing to have a UK home), and Case 8 (starting to have an overseas home). Each case has specific conditions; you must meet them all to qualify.

For the year you leave: yes, including form SA109 (residence section) to claim non-residence. For years after: only if you have UK-source income (rental, UK pension, UK employment) or certain UK-situs gains. Notify HMRC via form P85 when leaving — this is procedural, not a substitute for the SRT analysis itself.

Not automatically — but the family tie and accommodation tie both count in the sufficient ties test, which kicks in if no automatic test applies. A leaver (UK resident in any of the prior 3 tax years) with both family and accommodation ties becomes UK resident on as few as 91 UK days. An arriver (not UK resident in any of the prior 3 tax years) needs all 4 ties and 121+ days. The ties stack with day count to determine residence.

They can produce overlap (both countries claim residence) or gap (neither claims). The UK-Spain Double Tax Treaty has tiebreaker rules in Article 4: permanent home → centre of vital interests → habitual abode → nationality. Most clean moves use UK split-year treatment for the leaving year plus Spanish standard residence rules — but the sequencing is sensitive. The Spain tax-residency deep dive walks through the 183-day rule from the Spanish side.

No. Beckham Law is a Spanish tax election that changes how Spain taxes your Spanish-source income. It has no effect on whether HMRC considers you UK resident. Your UK SRT analysis is independent. What it does affect: under Beckham Law you elect into being taxed only on Spanish-source income, and the UK-Spain DTA tiebreakers may treat you as Spain resident anyway — but the SRT itself is unchanged.

Primary sources