YOUR TAX RESIDENCY ROADTRIP

How the test works

Your UK tax residency decides whether you declare your worldwide income or just your UK earnings — so it matters. Picture a motorway with a series of exits: take the first one that applies and you’re done.

Check it every tax year (6 April – 5 April). A day counts as being “present in the UK” if you were here at midnight.

The 183-day rule

Spent 183 days or more in the UK this tax year? You’re a UK resident. Pull over — you’re done.

Automatically non-resident

You’re non-resident if any of these fit:

• Fewer than 16 days in the UK this year.
• Fewer than 46 days in the UK and you weren’t UK-resident in any of the last 3 years.
• You work full-time overseas, spend fewer than 91 days in the UK, and work more than 3 hours in the UK on fewer than 31 days.

Automatically a UK resident

You’re a UK resident if either applies:

• You have a UK home for more than 90 days and you’re present in it on 30+ separate days. (“Home” is whatever a reasonable onlooker would call one.)
• You work full-time in the UK for 365+ days with no significant break.

None of the above?

You’ve reached the sufficient ties test — this weighs up your connections to the UK (family, accommodation, work, time here) and it gets genuinely fiddly. This is the point to talk to a tax accountant rather than guess.

keep reading

Foreign Income Cruise Ship Income & SED

Your tax, sorted.

The tax app built just for performers, creatives and side-hustlers — track your income, expenses and live tax bill in one tidy place, ready for your return.

Start your free trial