{"schema_version":"1.0","generated_by":"COLE — Citation Operations & Legal Engine","product_id":"uk-residency","title":"UK Statutory Residence Test Auditor","site":"https://taxchecknow.com/nomad/check/uk-residency","authority":"HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC)","authority_url":"https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/residence-domicile-and-remittance-basis","jurisdiction":"United Kingdom","language":"en","currency":"GBP","last_verified":"April 2026","legislation":"Finance Act 2013, Schedule 45 — Statutory Residence Test (SRT): three-layer sequential test applied annually (tax year 6 April – 5 April). Layer 1: Automatic Overseas Tests (AOT1-3) — non-residence if met. Layer 2: Automatic UK Tests (ART1-3) — residence if met. Layer 3: Sufficient Ties Test — days × ties matrix where neither automatic test resolves.","legal_anchor":"Finance Act 2013, Schedule 45 — Statutory Residence Test (SRT)","deadline":{"iso_date":"2027-01-31T23:59:59.000+00:00","display":"31 January 2027","description":"UK Self Assessment deadline for 2025/26 tax year (online filing)","urgency_label":"UK FILING DEADLINE"},"key_facts":{"legal_anchor":"Finance Act 2013, Schedule 45 — Statutory Residence Test","tax_year":"6 April – 5 April","aot1_under_16_days_previously_resident":"Automatic NON-RESIDENT","aot2_under_46_days_not_previously_resident":"Automatic NON-RESIDENT","aot3_full_time_overseas_work":"Automatic NON-RESIDENT (with day thresholds)","art1_183_uk_days":"Automatic UK RESIDENT","art2_only_home_in_uk":"Automatic UK RESIDENT","art3_full_time_uk_work":"Automatic UK RESIDENT","sufficient_ties_5_ties_available":"Family / accommodation / work / 90-day / country (prev. res only)","lowest_trigger_16_days_4_ties":"UK RESIDENT (previously resident)","uk_resident_tax_scope":"Worldwide income","non_resident_tax_scope":"UK-source income only (e.g. UK employment, UK property)"},"formula":"SRT evaluated in strict order: (1) if any AOT applies → NON-RESIDENT (stop). (2) if any ART applies → UK RESIDENT (stop). (3) sufficient ties: UK RESIDENT if days × ties combination meets threshold matrix. Matrix (previously resident): 16-45 days + 4 ties = resident; 46-90 + 3 ties; 91-120 + 2 ties; 121-182 + 1 tie. Matrix (not previously resident): 46-90 + 4 ties; 91-120 + 3 ties; 121-182 + 2 ties. Binary outcome: RESIDENT = worldwide income UK-taxable; NON-RESIDENT = UK-source income only.","thresholds":[{"label":"AOT — fewer than 16 days (previously resident) = NON-RESIDENT","value":1,"status":"clear"},{"label":"AOT — fewer than 46 days (not previously resident) = NON-RESIDENT","value":2,"status":"clear"},{"label":"AOT — full-time overseas + less than 91 UK days + 31 work days = NON","value":3,"status":"clear"},{"label":"Sufficient ties — 45 days + 4 ties = UK RESIDENT","value":4,"status":"trap"},{"label":"ART — 183+ days / only home UK / full-time UK work = UK RESIDENT","value":5,"status":"trap"}],"common_ai_errors":[{"error_id":1,"ai_says":"ChatGPT says: I spent fewer than 183 days in the UK so I am not UK resident","correct":"Reality: Wrong if you have UK ties. The 183-day threshold is one automatic UK residence test (ART1) — it establishes residence if met, but failing to reach it does not establish non-residence. The sufficient ties test can establish UK residence with as few as 16 days if four or more UK ties are present. Day count alone is not the test."},{"error_id":2,"ai_says":"ChatGPT says: I live abroad so I cannot be UK resident","correct":"Reality: Wrong if UK ties remain. Physical location is not the test. The SRT looks at ties — family in the UK, a UK home, UK work, prior UK presence. A person who lives in Spain but has a UK partner, a UK flat, and works in the UK 50 days per year is likely UK resident under the sufficient ties test regardless of where they consider themselves to live."},{"error_id":3,"ai_says":"ChatGPT says: I cut all ties when I left the UK so I am definitely non-resident","correct":"Reality: Needs verification. Automatic Overseas Test 2 provides a clean non-residence outcome for those with no prior UK residency and fewer than 46 UK days. For those who were previously UK resident, the relevant test is AOT1 (fewer than 16 days) or AOT3 (full-time overseas work). Claiming non-residence after prior UK residency without checking which AOT applies is a common mistake."},{"error_id":4,"ai_says":"ChatGPT says: The SRT is the same every year","correct":"Reality: Wrong. The sufficient ties test result changes as circumstances change. Acquiring a UK home, having a child who becomes UK resident, or spending more time in the UK in prior years can add ties that change the residency outcome for the current year. The SRT must be applied fresh each tax year — a prior year non-residence result does not carry forward automatically."}],"faq":[{"id":1,"question":"What is the Statutory Residence Test?","answer":"The SRT is the UK's three-layer sequential test for tax residency, established by Finance Act 2013 Schedule 45 and effective from 6 April 2013. It applies automatic overseas tests first (establish non-residence), then automatic UK tests (establish residence), then a sufficient ties test (days × ties matrix) if neither automatic layer resolves."},{"id":2,"question":"Can I be UK resident with only 16 days in the UK?","answer":"Yes. Under the sufficient ties test, a previously UK-resident person with 4 or more UK ties is UK resident at 16-45 UK days. The ties that count are family, accommodation, work, 90-day, and country. The 5th tie (country) is available only to previously UK resident individuals."},{"id":3,"question":"Does the SRT apply to split years?","answer":"Yes — but separately. Split year treatment (Cases 1-8) allows the tax year to be divided into a resident portion and a non-resident portion for a person becoming or ceasing to be UK resident in the year. Each split year case has specific conditions. The SRT determines full-year status first; split year treatment can then apply."},{"id":4,"question":"What counts as a 'day' in the UK for SRT?","answer":"Generally, a day on which you are present in the UK at midnight. Transit days (where you arrive and leave on the same day without becoming resident) are typically excluded. Deeming rules may apply in some cases where substantive presence is established even on non-midnight days."},{"id":5,"question":"What is the accommodation tie precisely?","answer":"Accommodation tie applies if you have a place to live in the UK (owned, rented, or a close relative's home) that is available to you for a continuous period of 91 days or more, AND you use it at least once in the tax year (16 nights if it's a close relative's home). 'Available' is interpreted broadly — a house owned but empty still qualifies."},{"id":6,"question":"What is the work tie precisely?","answer":"Work tie applies if you have 40 or more working days in the UK during the tax year. A 'working day' is any day on which you do more than 3 hours of work in the UK. Both employed and self-employed work counts. Partial days (3+ hours) count."},{"id":7,"question":"Does the country tie apply to me?","answer":"The country tie only applies to individuals who were UK resident in any of the 3 previous tax years. For those individuals, the country tie applies if the UK is the country where they spent the greatest number of days in the year. Compare UK days against days in each single other country — not all other countries combined."},{"id":8,"question":"What is AOT3 — full-time overseas work?","answer":"Automatic Overseas Test 3 requires: (1) full-time work overseas (averaging 35+ hours per week over the year), AND (2) fewer than 91 UK days, AND (3) fewer than 31 UK working days. Work hours are assessed across the year with allowances for annual leave and sick leave. 'No significant breaks' in overseas work means no period of more than 31 days where no work is done overseas (with limited exceptions)."},{"id":9,"question":"What is ART2 — the only-home test?","answer":"Automatic UK Residence Test 2 requires: (1) you have a UK home for 91 or more continuous days in the tax year, AND (2) you have no home outside the UK, or you have a home outside the UK but you are present at it for fewer than 30 days in the tax year. The test applies even if you spend few days in the UK if this 'only home' condition is met."},{"id":10,"question":"What happens if I am UK resident under the SRT?","answer":"UK residents are subject to UK income tax on worldwide income — not only UK-source income. This includes overseas employment, overseas rental, overseas dividends, and overseas capital gains (with remittance basis available for non-domiciled individuals). UK Self Assessment return required. Treaty relief may apply if also resident in another country."},{"id":11,"question":"If I am dual resident in another country too, what happens?","answer":"Dual residency (resident in UK under SRT + resident in another country under that country's domestic law) is resolved by the applicable tax treaty using OECD Article 4 tie-breaker rules. Permanent home → centre of vital interests → habitual abode → nationality → mutual agreement. See /nomad/check/tax-treaty-navigator for the tie-breaker analysis."},{"id":12,"question":"Can I reduce my UK ties to become non-resident?","answer":"Yes — the tie count is fact-based and can be reduced. Sell or end lease on UK accommodation (removes accommodation tie). Relocate family (removes family tie). Limit UK work days under 40 (removes work tie). Wait 2 full years after crossing 90-day threshold (90-day tie falls away). Country tie falls away when UK is no longer the country of most days. Tie-reduction planning is the primary lever for achieving non-residence under the sufficient ties test."}],"sources":[{"title":"HMRC — Statutory Residence Test (RDR3 guidance)","url":"https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rdr3-statutory-residence-test-srt"},{"title":"HMRC Internal Manual — Residence, Domicile and Remittance Basis","url":"https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/residence-domicile-and-remittance-basis"},{"title":"Finance Act 2013 Schedule 45 (legislation.gov.uk)","url":"https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2013/29/schedule/45"},{"title":"HMRC — Tax on foreign income for UK residents","url":"https://www.gov.uk/tax-foreign-income"},{"title":"HMRC — UK Self Assessment — who must send a return","url":"https://www.gov.uk/self-assessment-tax-returns/who-must-send-a-tax-return"},{"title":"Machine-readable JSON rules","url":"/api/rules/uk-residency"}],"products":{"tier1":{"name":"Your UK Residency Decision Pack","price":67,"currency":"GBP","description":"Are you UK tax resident — yes or no? Deterministic answer via the SRT.","url":"https://taxchecknow.com/nomad/check/uk-residency/success/assess"},"tier2":{"name":"Your UK Residency Strategy System","price":147,"currency":"GBP","description":"Full ties analysis + tie-reduction plan + split-year + treaty interaction + audit defence","url":"https://taxchecknow.com/nomad/check/uk-residency/success/plan"}},"monitor_urls":["https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rdr3-statutory-residence-test-srt"],"canonical":"https://taxchecknow.com/nomad/check/uk-residency","api_endpoint":"/api/rules/uk-residency","generated_at":"2026-04-23T10:08:32.721Z"}