Statutory Residence Test (SRT)

The test is in Schedule 45 to the Finance Act 2013 and explained in HMRC's RDR3 guidance. It is applied to each UK tax year, which runs from 6 April to 5 April. The automatic overseas tests are checked first. They include fewer than 16 days in the UK for someone who was UK resident in one or more of the previous 3 tax years, fewer than 46 days for someone who was not, and a test for full-time work overseas.

If no automatic overseas test is met, the automatic UK tests follow. Spending 183 days or more in the UK is one of them, alongside tests based on having a UK home and on full-time work in the UK. If none of the automatic tests decides the year, the sufficient ties test combines days with family, accommodation, work, 90-day and country ties. The more ties a person has, the fewer days it takes to be resident.

HMRC generally counts a day if the person is in the UK at the end of the day, at midnight, with rules for transit days, exceptional circumstances and a deeming rule. The SRT also feeds other rules. Split-year treatment can divide a resident year, the 4-year foreign income and gains regime counts years of residence under the SRT, and the inheritance tax long-term residence test from 6 April 2025 counts UK resident years.

Not to be confused with

• Split-year treatment. Split-year treatment only divides a year in which the SRT has already made the person UK resident.
• Domicile. Domicile is a separate legal concept about a person's permanent home, not decided by the SRT.

Sources

• RDR3: Statutory Residence Test (SRT) notesOfficial guidance
• Finance Act 2013, Schedule 45: Statutory residence testPrimary law
• RFIG20710 Statutory Residence Test (SRT): Days spent in the UK: Meaning of a day spent in the UKOfficial guidance

Related

Countries covered

General

Sources

3 sources

Tax year

Current rules as checked

Review

Not professionally reviewed
Sources checked November 9, 2026