FlagSageHabitual abode
Glossary term
Habitual abode is the place where a person regularly and normally lives, a test used in tax treaty tie-breaker rules and in some countries' own tax laws.
In the tie-breaker rules found in many tax treaties, habitual abode comes after the permanent home test and the centre of vital interests test. HMRC guidance says it asks where the person habitually lives. If the person has a habitual abode in both countries or in neither, the next test is usually nationality.
Some countries also use the idea in their own law. Germany's Fiscal Code says a person has a habitual abode where they stay under circumstances showing that the stay is not merely temporary. It treats an unbroken stay of at least six months as a habitual abode. That is a German domestic rule, and it works differently from the treaty test.
Habitual abode is not settled by one day count that applies everywhere. Treaty wording varies, so the text of the specific treaty matters.
Not to be confused with
- Permanent home. A permanent home is about a dwelling being available to the person, while habitual abode is about where the person regularly lives.
- Centre of vital interests. The centre of vital interests weighs personal and economic ties, while habitual abode looks at the pattern of where a person actually lives.
Sources
- INTM154020 - Double taxation agreements: residence: Dual residentsOfficial guidance
- Dual residents 2026 (HS302)Official guidance
- The Fiscal Code of Germany (Abgabenordnung), English translationPrimary law
Related
- Countries covered
- General
- Sources
- 3 sources
- Tax year
- Current rules as checked
- Review
- Not professionally reviewed
Sources checked November 8, 2026