UK Expat Tax Guide 2025 — Statutory Residence Test & Leaving UK

The Statutory Residence Test (SRT) is checked in a fixed order

HMRC's SRT works through three stages, in sequence, stopping as soon as one of them settles the question:

1. Automatic overseas tests — if any apply, you are definitely not UK resident for the year, full stop.
2. Automatic UK tests — if none of the overseas tests applied, these check if you are definitely UK resident instead.
3. Sufficient ties test — only reached if neither automatic test settled the question; then your residency depends on day count combined with your connections ("ties") to the UK.

Automatic overseas tests — the ways you're definitely not resident

• Fewer than 16 days in the UK in the tax year, having been UK resident in one or more of the previous three tax years.
• Fewer than 46 days in the UK in the tax year, having not been UK resident in any of the previous three tax years.
• Fewer than 91 days in the UK in the tax year, of which no more than 30 days involved working, provided you worked "sufficient hours" overseas with no significant break from that overseas work.

Automatic UK tests — the ways you're definitely resident

The clearest is spending 183 days or more in the UK in the tax year — on its own, decisive, regardless of ties or intentions.

The sufficient ties test — where day count meets connections

If neither automatic test resolves your status, HMRC looks at how many days you spent in the UK alongside how many of five defined "ties" you have:

• Family tie — a UK-resident spouse, civil partner, or minor child.
• Accommodation tie — UK accommodation available to you for 91+ days, with at least one night actually spent there in the year.
• Work tie — 40 or more days doing more than three hours of work in the UK.
• 90-day tie — more than 90 days spent in the UK in either of the previous two tax years.
• Country tie — only relevant if you were UK resident in one of the previous three years; broadly, the UK being the country where you spent the most days in the year.

Fewer ties are needed to become resident the more days you spend in the UK, and the specific day-count/tie combinations differ depending on whether you were UK resident in a recent prior year — this is genuinely a matrix, not a single number, and is worth checking against HMRC's own RDR3 guidance or a residence calculator for your specific day count and tie combination rather than assuming a single flat rule applies.

Leaving does not end your UK tax obligations

Filing form P85 notifies HMRC that you are leaving, and can trigger a review of your position (and any in-year tax refund due) — but it does not itself determine your residence status; the SRT still governs that separately. More importantly, becoming non-resident does not exempt UK-source income from UK tax: rental income from a UK property, UK pension income, and UK-source dividends or savings interest generally still need to be reported to HMRC via Self Assessment even once you are firmly non-resident, and UK rental income specifically brings the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme into play alongside the ordinary Self Assessment return.

Employment income follows where you physically work, not your residence status alone — income from work actually performed overseas is generally outside UK tax once you're non-resident, but any UK employment income you continue to receive (for example, a UK employer continuing to pay you for UK-based duties) can still be taxable in the UK regardless of your own residence position.

Worked example

Someone leaves the UK on 1 September, having been UK tax resident for each of the past five years, and takes up permanent employment abroad, working full-time overseas from the day they leave, with no significant breaks. In the tax year of departure they spend a total of 70 days in the UK (all before their departure date), and expect no UK employment days after leaving.

• They do not qualify for either overseas automatic test outright for the year of departure itself, because they were UK resident before leaving and the tests apply on a whole-year basis — but split-year treatment can apply in the year of departure itself, splitting the year into a UK part and an overseas part rather than requiring the whole year to pass one of the automatic tests.
• If they retain a UK buy-to-let property, its rental income remains reportable via Self Assessment and the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme for every year they continue to receive it, regardless of their own personal residence status.

FAQ

Q: If I file a P85, am I automatically treated as non-resident from that date? A: No — P85 is a notification and administrative process; your actual residence status is determined by the SRT itself, applied to your specific days and ties for the year.

Q: I sold my UK home before leaving. Does that remove my accommodation tie? A: The accommodation tie looks at whether UK accommodation was available to you for 91+ days with at least one night spent there in the year — removing accommodation you no longer have access to can remove this specific tie, but check your other ties (family, work, 90-day, country) separately, since losing one tie does not necessarily change your overall status if others still apply.

Q: Do I still owe UK tax on a UK pension once I'm non-resident? A: Generally yes, UK-source pension income remains reportable and often still taxable in the UK even once you are non-resident — actual tax treatment can also depend on any double taxation agreement between the UK and your new country of residence.

Sources

Figures verified against HMRC guidance as of 30 July 2026:

• gov.uk / HMRC RDR3 — "Statutory Residence Test (SRT) notes" (automatic overseas tests — 16-day, 46-day, 91-day/30-workday variants; automatic UK 183-day test; the five sufficient ties)
• legislation.gov.uk — Finance Act 2013, Schedule 45 (statutory basis for the SRT)
• gov.uk — Form P85 guidance (P85 as a notification, not a determination of residence status)
• HMRC guidance on non-resident UK income obligations (UK rental income, Non-Resident Landlord Scheme, UK-source pension/dividend/interest income remaining reportable after becoming non-resident; employment income taxed where physically performed)