Four automatic UK residence tests

There are four automatic UK residence tests: 

• The individual spends at least 183 days in the UK in that tax year.

• The individual has a home in the UK during all or part of that tax year and spends a sufficient amount of time there (if there are 30 days in that year when he/she spends time at the property – no matter how short the time during those days).
• During a period of at least 91 days, while he/she has that home, at least 30 days fall within the relevant year and throughout that 91 day period, either he had no home overseas or does have one or more homes overseas but he/she spends no more than a permitted time (if there are fewer than 30 days in the year when he is present for at least some of the time – no matter how short) during the year there.
• The references to 30 days mean the aggregate, whether consecutive or intermittent.
• If the taxpayer has more than one home in the UK, each must be looked at separately and the test will be met so long as it is met in relation to at least one of the homes.

• The individual works sufficient hours in the UK,  as assessed over a period of 365 days;
• During that period there are no significant breaks from UK work;
• All or part of that period falls within the relevant year;
• More than 75 per cent of the total number of days in the 365 day period on which he works more than three hours are days worked in the UK; and
• At least one day in the relevant year is one in which the individual works more than three hours in the UK.

There are instructions as to how to identify, for any given period of 365 days, whether the individual works 'sufficient hours' in the UK:

1. Eliminate the days is which he works more than three days abroad.  These are ‘disregarded days’.
2. Next, add up the total number of days the individual works in the UK, ignoring ‘disregarded days’.
3. Now subtract from 365 (disregarded days + any days where there were gaps in employment); this is the ‘reference period’.
4. Divide the reference period by seven, rounding down to the nearest whole number.
5. If the answer is 35 or more, the individual is considered to work ‘sufficient hours’ in the UK in the 365-day period.

This does not apply if the individual has a relevant job aboard a vehicle, aircraft or ship at any time in the year and at least six trips in the year as part of the job are cross-border trips that either: begin in the UK, end in the UK or begin and end in the UK.

• The taxpayer dies in the year;
• He/she was resident in each of the past three tax years by virtue of the automatic residence test;
• If he/she were not resident for the final tax year, the preceding tax year would not be a split year;
• When he/she died, either:
  • His/her home was in the UK or
  • He/she had more than one home and one of them was in the UK.

To access other articles in this series, visit the 'Statutory Residence Test' section on this page.

You can also access further information via the 'Related links' section on this page.