Leaving the UK - breaking tax residence

There are many reasons why individuals may decide to leave the UK; a lifestyle choice, employment reasons or other personal circumstances.

A move out of the UK can happen at short notice and you might intend your non-residence to have immediate effect. However, for tax purposes the date residence begins and ends is defined by the Statutory Residence Test (SRT).

You may wish to continue to spend time in the UK and remain non-UK resident. Also, once you have been UK resident if you return to the UK after a period of non-residence there are additional specific matters to be aware of. As such it is best to understand the rules so that you do not accidentally become UK resident again.

However, while complex, the SRT at least provides some certainty surrounding the steps you must take to become non-resident, and remain non-resident, for UK tax purposes.

Abolishing non-dom status – what happens now?

The tax implications of UK residence status are currently going through a radical overhaul. These changes will impact UK residents, but they may also continue to affect your tax position once you leave the UK after a period of UK residence. For example, your exposure to inheritance tax may continue once you leave the UK. Read more about IHT here.

These changes were announced in the Spring Budget 2024 when the Government set out proposals to abolish the current tax treatment for UK resident non-domiciled individuals (non-doms) from 6 April 2025. After which a new residence only based regime will apply. Read more about the changes here.

Statutory Residence Test

Your residence position in the UK is determined by the Statutory Residence Test (SRT). The rules set out in the SRT determine your residence position by considering the number of connections you have to the UK (also known as ‘ties’) against the number of days you have spent in the UK in a tax year. Your position must be looked at based on your personal circumstances so detailed records must be kept to prove your residence position.

Under the SRT, the more connections you have to the UK then the fewer number of days you may spend in the UK before you would be UK resident. 

The connections that are relevant are work, family, accommodation, spending more than 90 days in the UK in the prior tax year and spending more time in the UK than any other country.

The SRT comprises three parts: an automatic non-resident test, an automatic resident test and a sufficient ties test. The tests should be considered in that order but as soon as the conditions of one test are met, the other tests do not need to be considered.

The flow chart is an overview only and does not cover all the intricacies of the SRT - personal tax advice based on your specific circumstances is therefore essential.

You will be non-resident for a tax year if you are present in the UK at midnight at the end of the day for less than a specified number of days in the tax year in question, as follows:

  1. If you were resident in the UK for one or more of the preceding three tax years the limit is 15 days or
  2. If you were resident in the UK for none of the preceding three tax years the limit is 45 days or
  3. If you work abroad ‘full-time’ throughout the tax year (broadly, 35 hours per week on average), without a significant break (more than 30 days, with exceptions for annual, sick or parenting leave), the limit 90 days. In this case you must also have less than 31 days in the tax year on which you do more than three hours’ work in the UK.

Days of presence will be disregarded where you spend a day in the UK due to circumstances beyond your control or where it is a day spent in transit.

If none of the three tests above are met, the automatic resident tests must be considered.


For individuals who want to spend more than 15 or 45 days a year in the UK and do not want to work full-time abroad, it is still possible to become non-resident. However, it will be necessary for them to substantially reduce both the amount of time they spend in the UK and the number of ‘ties’ they have with the UK.

The sufficient ties test combines the concept of UK ties with the number of days that you are present in the UK. There are many situational complexities to each of the five UK ties but, in outline, the ties are:

  1. Family tie – you have a spouse, civil partner, unmarried partner or minor child resident in the UK. Children will not be taken into account if you see the child in the UK on fewer than 61 days in the year or the child is only resident because they are in full-time education in the UK and they spend less than 21 days in the UK outside term time.
  2. Accommodation tie – you have accommodation in the UK that is available to be used for a continuous period of at least 91 days in a tax year and you spend at least one night there in the year. If the accommodation is the home of a close relative the ‘one night’ test is extended to 16 nights. This tie does not require you to own the accommodation so holiday homes and even hotels may trigger this tie.
  3. Work tie – you work in the UK for 40 or more days in a tax year, for at least three hours per day.
  4. 90 day tie – you have been present in the UK for more than 90 days in either of the previous two tax years.
  5. Country tie – you are present in the UK at midnight in the tax year as much as (or more than) you are present in any other single country. This tie applies to ‘leavers’ only (see below).

The more ties you have the less time you may spend in the UK if you want to be regarded as non-resident. Please note that the table below only applies when the individual is a ‘leaver’ (meaning an individual who was UK resident in one or more of the three previous tax years). Separate rules apply to individuals who have not recently been resident in the UK (see here for more details).


Residence status is determined for a complete tax year. However, if your circumstances fit one of the cases for split year treatment to apply then the tax year of departure will be split into a resident period and a non-resident period. These rules are even more complex so personal advice based on your circumstances is required.

Anti-avoidance provisions apply to prevent individuals leaving the UK for a short period to realise substantial amounts of income or capital gains. You must be non-resident for a specified period otherwise you will be taxed on certain types of income and capital gains in the year you return to the UK.

BDO’s International Private Client Service

As trusted advisers to entrepreneurs and owner managed businesses, the Private Client specialists across the BDO international network have vast experience in looking after the tax affairs of wealthy individuals, their families and their businesses. 

Our services include: 

Wealth and Asset Protection – Advice on the use of trusts and other entities in structuring global wealth including the tax efficiency of Wills.

International Tax – Co-ordinating and advising on the different tax regimes between countries.

Tax Residence - Advice and practical guidance on moving to the UK and other countries. 

Family Business Advisory – We work with multi-generational businesses all over the world with diverse cultures and in diverse sectors. 

Next steps

The UK tax residence rules are complex and anyone trying to assess their residence status should seek expert advice - please get in touch with your usual BDO contact, Paul Ayres, Richard Montague or Lee Bijoux.

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