When do I become a UK tax resident after moving to the United Kingdom?

Checked on 2026-10-25

You are UK tax resident for a tax year (6 April to 5 April) if you meet an automatic UK test, such as 183 or more days in the UK, and no automatic overseas test. If neither applies, the sufficient ties test decides: newcomers need two to four UK ties, depending on days spent.

Key facts

What	The law says	Source
The basic rule	You are UK resident for a tax year if you meet the automatic residence test or the sufficient ties test; if you meet neither, you are not resident	FA 2013 Sch. 45, paras 3–4
Automatic residence test	At least one automatic UK test and none of the automatic overseas tests	FA 2013 Sch. 45, para 5
First automatic UK test	At least 183 days in the UK in the tax year	FA 2013 Sch. 45, para 7
Second automatic UK test	A home in the UK where you are present on at least 30 days in the year, and a period of 91 consecutive days, at least 30 of them in the tax year, during which you have no overseas home (or only overseas homes you are present in on fewer than 30 days of the year)	FA 2013 Sch. 45, para 8
Third automatic UK test	Full-time work in the UK (an average of 35 hours or more a week on the statutory calculation) over a 365-day period with no significant breaks, more than 75% of your workdays of over 3 hours in the UK, and at least one such day in the tax year	FA 2013 Sch. 45, para 9
Automatic overseas tests	Fewer than 16 days in the UK if you were resident in one or more of the 3 previous tax years; fewer than 46 days if you were resident in none of them; or full-time work overseas with fewer than 31 UK workdays of more than 3 hours and fewer than 91 days in the UK	FA 2013 Sch. 45, paras 12–14
Sufficient ties, if you were not resident in any of the 3 previous tax years	46–90 days: all 4 ties; 91–120 days: at least 3; more than 120 days: at least 2	FA 2013 Sch. 45, para 19
What counts as a day in the UK	Being in the UK at the end of the day (midnight)	FA 2013 Sch. 45, para 22

How the test works

The statutory residence test is in Schedule 45 of the Finance Act 2013. It applies to Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax, and to Inheritance Tax and Corporation Tax where an individual’s residence matters. Each tax year is checked separately: the UK tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April the following year, and GOV.UK says your status can change from one year to the next.

Work through it in this order:

Automatic overseas tests. If you meet any of them, you are not UK resident for that year. For someone moving to the UK for the first time (not resident in any of the 3 previous tax years), the simplest one is spending fewer than 46 days in the UK in the tax year.
Automatic UK tests. If you meet none of the overseas tests and at least one UK test (183 days, the UK home test, or full-time work in the UK), you are resident.
Sufficient ties test. If no automatic test settles it, the number of days you spend in the UK and the number of your UK ties decide.

The UK ties

The law lists the ties in paragraphs 31 to 38 of the Schedule. If you were not UK resident in any of the 3 previous tax years, four ties count:

Family tie: your spouse, civil partner or partner you live with, or your child under 18, is UK resident for the year. A child under 18 counts only if you see them in the UK on 61 days or more in the year.
Accommodation tie: you have a place to live in the UK available for a continuous period of at least 91 days in the year, and you spend at least one night there (16 nights if it is the home of a close relative).
Work tie: you work in the UK for at least 40 days in the year, a workday being more than 3 hours’ work.
90-day tie: you spent more than 90 days in the UK in one or both of the 2 previous tax years.

If you were UK resident in one or more of the 3 previous tax years, a fifth tie also counts: the country tie (the UK is the country where you were present at midnight on the most days). The days thresholds are also lower: from more than 15 days in the UK, four ties are enough (para 18).

Counting days

The law counts a day as a UK day if you are in the UK at the end of it. A day does not count if you arrive as a passenger and leave the next day without doing things substantially unrelated to your journey, or if exceptional circumstances beyond your control keep you in the UK (up to 60 such days in a tax year). Separately, a deeming rule can count days when you are in the UK but leave before midnight, if you have at least 3 UK ties, more than 30 such days and were resident in one or more of the 3 previous tax years (para 23).

The year you arrive

If you are resident for a tax year, the law treats you as resident for the whole of it (para 2(3)). Part 3 of the Schedule relaxes this through split year treatment, which can tax the part of the year before you arrived as if you were non-resident.

GOV.UK’s residence status checker gives an indication of your status for the current tax year or any of the previous 6 tax years (GOV.UK, UK residence and tax).
Once resident, you normally pay UK tax on your income and gains from the UK and abroad; non-residents pay UK tax only on their UK income (GOV.UK, UK residence and tax).

Sources

Finance Act 2013, Schedule 45, Part 1: the statutory residence test rules, paras 1–19 (legislation.gov.uk, revised text) checked 2026-10-25
Finance Act 2013, Schedule 45, Part 2: key concepts, paras 22 and 31–38 (legislation.gov.uk, revised text) checked 2026-10-25
GOV.UK: Tax on foreign income, UK residence and tax checked 2026-10-25

Change history

2026-10-25: Page created

This is general information, not legal advice, and Lumen is not a law firm. Rules change and offices differ: check the official sources above before you act. Found something wrong or out of date? Write to support@lumen.observer.