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UK statutory residence test: the 183‑day count

Tax days · EuropeChecked Updated

United Kingdom 183

Tax days
183days in the tax year

At least 183 days in the UK in a tax year makes you UK resident.12

A day is
As a rule, a day counts when you are in the UK at the end of it.3
Left out
Two kinds of day are left out: a day you arrive as a passenger and leave the next day, doing little beyond passing through, and, up to 60 a year, a day exceptional events beyond your control keep you in the UK when you mean to leave.456
Added in
If you have at least 3 UK ties and were UK resident in one of the 3 tax years before, days in the UK without a midnight there also count, from the 31st such day in the tax year.789
Year
The tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April.10
Also counts
Below 183 days, other tests decide. The automatic overseas tests can rule you out; if none applies, the other automatic UK tests or the connections you have with the UK can rule you in.1112

Worked example

The midnight decides

  1. You land at Heathrow on Friday 10 April 2026 and fly out on Sunday 12 April. You were in the UK at the end of Friday and at the end of Saturday, so the weekend counts as 2 days, not 3.3How we count: One day for each midnight spent in the UK.
  2. A day trip from Paris, in on the morning train and out on the evening one, ends with you outside the UK, so it adds no day, unless the rule for people with 3 UK ties applies.37How we count: No midnight in the UK, no day.
  3. The count starts again each 6 April: a night on 5 April 2026 belongs to the tax year ending that day, a night on 6 April 2026 to the next one.10How we count: The tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April.

The rule it rests on: As a rule, a day counts when you are in the UK at the end of it.3 The tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April.10

Questions people ask

How does the UK statutory residence test use days?

At least 183 days in the UK in a tax year makes you UK resident.12

When does a day count in the UK?

As a rule, a day counts when you are in the UK at the end of it.3

Which days can be left out of the UK count?

Two kinds of day are left out: a day you arrive as a passenger and leave the next day, doing little beyond passing through, and, up to 60 a year, a day exceptional events beyond your control keep you in the UK when you mean to leave.456

What decides residence below the automatic day line?

Below 183 days, other tests decide. The automatic overseas tests can rule you out; if none applies, the other automatic UK tests or the connections you have with the UK can rule you in.1112

Sources

8 laws and 4 official pages, each with its exact words
  1. Finance Act 2013, Sch. 45, para. 7 · legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives · read 25 Oct 2026
    Exact words The first automatic UK test is that P spends at least 183 days in the UK in year X.
  2. HMRC, RDR3 guidance note · HM Revenue & Customs (gov.uk) · read 25 Oct 2026
    Exact words If you’ve been in the UK for 183 or more days you’ll be a UK resident. There is no need to consider any other tests.
  3. Finance Act 2013, Sch. 45, para. 22(1) · legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives · read 25 Oct 2026
    Exact words If P is present in the UK at the end of a day, that day counts as a day spent by P in the UK.
  4. Finance Act 2013, Sch. 45, para. 22(3) · legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives · read 25 Oct 2026
    Exact words P only arrives in the UK as a passenger on that day
  5. Finance Act 2013, Sch. 45, para. 22(4) · legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives · read 25 Oct 2026
    Exact words P would not be present in the UK at the end of that day but for exceptional circumstances beyond P's control that prevent P from leaving the UK
  6. Finance Act 2013, Sch. 45, para. 22(6) · legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives · read 25 Oct 2026
    Exact words the maximum number of days to which sub-paragraph (2) may apply in reliance on sub-paragraph (4) is limited to 60
  7. Finance Act 2013, Sch. 45, para. 23(4) · legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives · read 25 Oct 2026
    Exact words once the number of qualifying days in the tax year reaches 30 (counting forward from the start of the tax year), each subsequent qualifying day in the tax year is to be treated as a day spent by P in the UK
  8. Finance Act 2013, Sch. 45, para. 23(3) · legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives · read 25 Oct 2026
    Exact words P has at least 3 UK ties for a tax year
  9. Finance Act 2013, Sch. 45, para. 23(3) · legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives · read 25 Oct 2026
    Exact words P was resident in the UK for at least one of the 3 tax years preceding that tax year
  10. gov.uk, Income Tax rates · gov.uk · read 25 Oct 2026
    Exact words The current tax year is from 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027.
  11. HMRC, RDR3 guidance note · HM Revenue & Customs (gov.uk) · read 25 Oct 2026
    Exact words If you meet any of the automatic overseas tests you will not be resident in the UK for that tax year. If you do not meet any of these tests go to step 3. If you meet any of the automatic UK tests or the sufficient ties test, you will be UK resident for that tax year.
  12. HMRC, RDR3 guidance note · HM Revenue & Customs (gov.uk) · read 25 Oct 2026
    Exact words the connections you have with the UK
Checked against Finance Act 2013, Sch. 45 on 25 Oct 2026 Updated 26 Oct 2026

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