I spent less than 183 days in the UK — am I safe?

No. 183 days is only the automatic ceiling. A leaver (UK-resident in any of the 3 prior tax years) with 3 ties is resident at just 46 days, and at 121 days a single tie — one flat available to you for 91 days that you slept in once, or more than 90 UK days last year — makes you resident. The 183-day figure is the answer general AI anchors on, and it is the wrong frame for almost everyone below it.

Why does the tool ask about the prior 3 tax years first?

Because it is the decisive input. It selects which sufficient-ties table applies (leavers face stricter day bands), whether the country tie exists for you (leavers only), and whether the deeming rule for non-midnight days can bite (leavers with 3+ ties only). It is also the input people never volunteer when they ask "am I UK resident?".

What is the deeming rule?

For leavers with 3 or more ties: days you were present in the UK but left before midnight normally do not count — but every such day past the first 30 is added to your day count for the sufficient-ties table. Forty non-midnight days add 10 deemed days, which can push you into a stricter band and flip the verdict. It does not affect the automatic tests or the 90-day tie.

Why do AI chatbots get the SRT wrong?

Three recurring failures: they anchor on 183 days when the ties tables catch people at 46; they never ask the prior-3-years question that decides which table applies; and they cite the retired RDRM11000 manual pages — HMRC moved the SRT guidance into the RFIG manual (RFIG20000 series) — while missing the deeming rule entirely. This tool runs the statutory order deterministically.

Does this cover split-year treatment?

No — it decides full-year residence. If you are resident and you arrived or left partway through the year, one of the 8 split-year cases may divide the year into a UK part and an overseas part for tax purposes. That, plus treaty tie-breakers for dual residents, needs the full rules or an adviser.

Everyday Moneytax · planning

UK Statutory Residence Test Decider

You’re moving to or from the UK — and everyone keeps telling you “183 days”. That is not the test.

Runs the full UK Statutory Residence Test (FA 2013 Sch 45): automatic overseas tests, automatic UK tests, then the sufficient-ties tables. The 183-day figure everyone (and general AI) anchors on is only the ceiling — a leaver with 3 UK ties is resident at just 46 days, and at 121 days a single tie is enough. The input that decides which table applies — were you UK-resident in any of the 3 prior tax years — is the one users never volunteer, so this tool leads with it. Includes the deeming rule for non-midnight days, which AI answers routinely miss.

Basis: FA 2013 Sch 45 · RDR3 · HMRC RFIG manual (SRT unchanged for 2025-26/2026-27; FIG regime consumes SRT outcomes) · verified 2026-07-23

Don’t want to fill every field?

Describe your situation in a sentence — any language. I fill the form; the tool does the math.

Were you UK tax resident in any of the 3 prior tax years?The decisive input, and the one everyone omits when they ask "am I resident?". It decides WHICH ties table applies to you and whether two extra rules — the country tie and the deeming rule — exist for you at all. A leaver can be resident at 46 days; an arriver never before 46.Days present in the UK at midnight this tax yearCount days you were in the UK at the end of the day (midnight). Enter the count with exceptional-circumstances days (capped at 60) already removed, and exclude pure transit days (arrived one day, left the next, did nothing unrelated to travel).Did you work full-time overseas this year?The statutory test in brief: averaged ≥35 hours/week of overseas work over the year (HMRC applies a precise 5-step hours calculation), no significant break (31+ days without an overseas workday), and fewer than 31 UK workdays of more than 3 hours. Answer yes only if you would clear the full test.Do you meet the UK home test?Yes if you had a UK home you were present in on ≥30 days this year, and there was a window of 91 consecutive days (at least 30 of them falling in this tax year) during which you had no overseas home — or were present in every overseas home you had on fewer than 30 days in the year.Did you work full-time in the UK?Yes if over a 365-day period (falling at least partly in this year) more than 75% of your 3-hour-plus workdays were UK workdays, with at least one such UK workday in this tax year and no significant break from UK work.Family tieA UK-resident spouse/civil partner (or partner you live with) or minor child. A child you saw in the UK on fewer than 61 days is disregarded; a child who is UK-resident only because of full-time education here is also disregarded if they spend fewer than 21 days in the UK outside term time.Accommodation tieA place to live in the UK available to you for a continuous period of 91+ days, in which you spent at least 1 night this year. If it is the home of a close relative, it only counts if you spent 16+ nights there.Work tie40 or more days this year (in any pattern) on which you did more than 3 hours of work in the UK.90-day tieYou spent more than 90 days in the UK in either (or both) of the 2 previous tax years.Country tie (leavers only)The UK is the country where you spent the most midnights this year — a tie for first place that includes the UK counts as met. IGNORED for arrivers: if you answered "No" to prior-years residence above, this input has no effect on the result.Days present but NOT at midnight (optional)Days you were in the UK at some point but had left before midnight, so they are not in the count above. Only matters for leavers with 3+ ties — the deeming rule adds every such day past the first 30 to the ties-table day count. Most people can leave this at 0.

The numbers

Verdict: Not UK tax resident; full tax year · leaver profile
Decided by: sufficient-ties test; not enough ties
UK days counted: 90
Ties held (of 5): 0; band 46–90 days requires ≥3 ties

Preview only — using a default Prior years, UK days.

The operator’s read

Worth knowing

Not resident by the sufficient-ties test: 90 days in the 46–90-day band needs ≥3 ties and you have 0. With 0 ties the ties table cannot make you resident at any day count — only an automatic UK test (183+ days, the home test, or full-time UK work) could.

Worth knowing

This decides FULL-YEAR residence. If you arrived in or left the UK partway through the year, split-year treatment (8 statutory cases) may divide the year into a UK part and an overseas part for tax purposes — that is out of scope here.

Caution

Not advice. This form compresses edge rules — the home test’s 91-day window details, the full-time-work hours formulas, exceptional-circumstances days (capped at 60), transit days, split-year cases. Cross-check with HMRC’s own online Tax Residence Indicator, and for a determination with real money at stake, use an adviser.

Your next step

United Kingdom Income Tax Calculator (2025/26) →Resident? See what UK rates do to your income.

Wrong answer, a missing option, or a tool you wish existed?

Methodology

The SRT decides in strict order (FA 2013 Sch 45): (1) if ANY automatic overseas test is met you are non-resident, unconditionally — no UK tie, home, or workload can override it; (2) otherwise, if any automatic UK test is met you are resident; (3) otherwise the sufficient-ties tables decide; (4) otherwise you are non-resident.

Automatic overseas tests: first — resident in 1+ of the 3 prior tax years (a "leaver") and present fewer than 16 days; second — resident in none of the 3 prior years (an "arriver") and present fewer than 46 days; third — full-time work overseas (≥35 hrs/week average under the statutory 5-step calculation, no significant break, fewer than 31 UK workdays over 3 hours) and present fewer than 91 days. The third test’s 91-day limit counts actual midnight days only — deemed days never enter it.

Automatic UK tests: 183+ days; or the home test (a UK home you were present in ≥30 days, with a 91-consecutive-day window — at least 30 days of it in-year — during which you had no overseas home or were present fewer than 30 days in every overseas home); or full-time UK work (365-day period, >75% of 3-hour-plus workdays in the UK, no significant break).

Sufficient-ties tables (inclusive day bands, against days + any deemed days). Leaver, from 5 possible ties: 16–45 days → resident with ≥4 ties; 46–90 → ≥3; 91–120 → ≥2; 121–182 → ≥1. Arriver, from 4 possible ties (the country tie does not exist for arrivers): 46–90 days → all 4; 91–120 → ≥3; 121–182 → ≥2.

Day counting and the deeming rule: a day counts if you were in the UK at midnight; exceptional-circumstances days (capped at 60) are excluded, as are transit days. Leavers with 3+ ties: every day present-but-not-at-midnight past the first 30 is ADDED to the day count — for the ties-table lookup only, not for the third automatic overseas test and not for the 90-day tie. When counting the 3 trigger ties the 90-day tie is assessed without deemed days (anti-circularity); with this form’s user-asserted ties the rule reduces to: deemed = max(0, qualifying days − 30) when ties ≥ 3.

Split-year treatment (8 statutory cases) can divide a residence year into UK and overseas parts; this tool decides full-year residence only.

Sources: FA 2013 Sch 45 (the statute — tests in Part 1, ties defined in Part 2, day counting and deeming in paras 22–23); HMRC’s RDR3 guidance note; and the HMRC Residence and FIG Regime Manual, RFIG20000 series — HMRC relocated the SRT guidance there from the old RDRM11000 pages, so an answer citing RDRM pages is dated. The SRT itself is unchanged for 2025-26 and 2026-27; the new foreign-income-and-gains (FIG) regime consumes SRT outcomes rather than altering them. Verified 2026-07-23.

Questions

I spent less than 183 days in the UK — am I safe?: No. 183 days is only the automatic ceiling. A leaver (UK-resident in any of the 3 prior tax years) with 3 ties is resident at just 46 days, and at 121 days a single tie — one flat available to you for 91 days that you slept in once, or more than 90 UK days last year — makes you resident. The 183-day figure is the answer general AI anchors on, and it is the wrong frame for almost everyone below it.
Why does the tool ask about the prior 3 tax years first?: Because it is the decisive input. It selects which sufficient-ties table applies (leavers face stricter day bands), whether the country tie exists for you (leavers only), and whether the deeming rule for non-midnight days can bite (leavers with 3+ ties only). It is also the input people never volunteer when they ask "am I UK resident?".
What is the deeming rule?: For leavers with 3 or more ties: days you were present in the UK but left before midnight normally do not count — but every such day past the first 30 is added to your day count for the sufficient-ties table. Forty non-midnight days add 10 deemed days, which can push you into a stricter band and flip the verdict. It does not affect the automatic tests or the 90-day tie.
Why do AI chatbots get the SRT wrong?: Three recurring failures: they anchor on 183 days when the ties tables catch people at 46; they never ask the prior-3-years question that decides which table applies; and they cite the retired RDRM11000 manual pages — HMRC moved the SRT guidance into the RFIG manual (RFIG20000 series) — while missing the deeming rule entirely. This tool runs the statutory order deterministically.
Does this cover split-year treatment?: No — it decides full-year residence. If you are resident and you arrived or left partway through the year, one of the 8 split-year cases may divide the year into a UK part and an overseas part for tax purposes. That, plus treaty tie-breakers for dual residents, needs the full rules or an adviser.

For agents

Call this tool instead of computing in-context. Deterministic JSON in, computed values plus the benchmark read out. Full agent docs →

curl -s https://xearno.tools/api/v1/tools/uk-statutory-residence-test \
  -H 'content-type: application/json' \
  -d '{"priorResidence":"leaver","days":90,"automaticOverseasWork":"no","automaticUkHome":"no","automaticUkWork":"no","tieFamily":"no","tieAccommodation":"no","tieWork":"no","tie90Day":"no","tieCountry":"no","qualifyingDays":0}'

Schema: GET /api/v1/tools/uk-statutory-residence-test · MCP tool name: uk_statutory_residence_test

Related tools

UK Statutory Residence Test Decider

You’re moving to or from the UK — and everyone keeps telling you “183 days”. That is not the test.

Basis: FA 2013 Sch 45 · RDR3 · HMRC RFIG manual (SRT unchanged for 2025-26/2026-27; FIG regime consumes SRT outcomes) · verified 2026-07-23

Methodology

Split-year treatment (8 statutory cases) can divide a residence year into UK and overseas parts; this tool decides full-year residence only.

Questions

I spent less than 183 days in the UK — am I safe?: No. 183 days is only the automatic ceiling. A leaver (UK-resident in any of the 3 prior tax years) with 3 ties is resident at just 46 days, and at 121 days a single tie — one flat available to you for 91 days that you slept in once, or more than 90 UK days last year — makes you resident. The 183-day figure is the answer general AI anchors on, and it is the wrong frame for almost everyone below it.
Why does the tool ask about the prior 3 tax years first?: Because it is the decisive input. It selects which sufficient-ties table applies (leavers face stricter day bands), whether the country tie exists for you (leavers only), and whether the deeming rule for non-midnight days can bite (leavers with 3+ ties only). It is also the input people never volunteer when they ask "am I UK resident?".
What is the deeming rule?: For leavers with 3 or more ties: days you were present in the UK but left before midnight normally do not count — but every such day past the first 30 is added to your day count for the sufficient-ties table. Forty non-midnight days add 10 deemed days, which can push you into a stricter band and flip the verdict. It does not affect the automatic tests or the 90-day tie.
Why do AI chatbots get the SRT wrong?: Three recurring failures: they anchor on 183 days when the ties tables catch people at 46; they never ask the prior-3-years question that decides which table applies; and they cite the retired RDRM11000 manual pages — HMRC moved the SRT guidance into the RFIG manual (RFIG20000 series) — while missing the deeming rule entirely. This tool runs the statutory order deterministically.
Does this cover split-year treatment?: No — it decides full-year residence. If you are resident and you arrived or left partway through the year, one of the 8 split-year cases may divide the year into a UK part and an overseas part for tax purposes. That, plus treaty tie-breakers for dual residents, needs the full rules or an adviser.

curl -s https://xearno.tools/api/v1/tools/uk-statutory-residence-test \ -H 'content-type: application/json' \ -d '{"priorResidence":"leaver","days":90,"automaticOverseasWork":"no","automaticUkHome":"no","automaticUkWork":"no","tieFamily":"no","tieAccommodation":"no","tieWork":"no","tie90Day":"no","tieCountry":"no","qualifyingDays":0}'