Am I a UK Tax Resident? | The Complete 2026/27 SRT & Tax Guide

Determining whether you or your client is a UK tax resident involves a strict statutory mechanism known as the Statutory Residence Test (SRT). Following the sweeping abolition of the non-domicile regime in April 2025, residence status now entirely dictates how the UK taxes global income, capital gains, and worldwide estates.

Below is an exhaustive technical breakdown of the Statutory Residence Test (SRT), split-year rules, and the new residence-based tax regimes applicable in the 2026/27 tax year.

The Statutory Residence Test (SRT)

The SRT determines tax residency for a specific tax year. You apply the test in three strict stages: the Automatic Overseas Tests, the Automatic UK Tests, and the Sufficient Ties Test. The core metric for the SRT is “day counting” — if an individual is present in the UK at the end of a day (midnight), that day counts as a day spent in the UK.  Exceptions exist for passengers simply transiting through the UK and for days spent in the UK due to exceptional circumstances beyond the individual’s control.

1. Automatic Overseas Tests

If you meet any of these three tests, you are definitively non-UK resident for the 2026/27 tax year:

• First Automatic Overseas Test: You spent fewer than 16 days in the UK during the current tax year, provided you were resident in the UK in one or more of the previous three tax years.
• Second Automatic Overseas Test: You spent fewer than 46 days in the UK during the current tax year, provided you were not resident in the UK in any of the previous three tax years.
• Third Automatic Overseas Test: You work full-time overseas. To satisfy this, you must spend fewer than 91 days in the UK, work for more than 3 hours in the UK on fewer than 31 days, and suffer no “significant break” (31 continuous days without work) from your overseas work.

2. Automatic UK Tests

If you do not meet any Automatic Overseas Tests, check the Automatic UK Tests. If you meet any of these, you are definitively UK resident:

• First Automatic UK Test: You spend 183 days or more in the UK in the tax year.
• Second Automatic UK Test: You have a home in the UK for a period of at least 91 consecutive days (at least 30 of which fall in the tax year). You must be present in that home for at least 30 days during the year, and either have no overseas home or spend fewer than 30 days in any overseas home you do have.
• Third Automatic UK Test: You work full-time in the UK for a 365-day period (with part of that period falling in the current tax year), and more than 75% of your working days are days worked in the UK.

3. Sufficient Ties Test

If neither the Automatic Overseas nor the Automatic UK tests determine your status, you must use the Sufficient Ties Test. This test relies on a combination of your “ties” to the UK and your day count.  The relevant ties are:

• Family tie: A spouse, civil partner, or minor child is UK resident.
• Accommodation tie: You have accessible accommodation in the UK and use it for at least one night (or 16 nights if it belongs to a close relative).
• Work tie: You work in the UK for more than 3 hours a day on at least 40 days in the tax year.
• 90-day tie: You spent more than 90 days in the UK in either of the two previous tax years.
• Country tie: You spend more days in the UK at midnight than in any other single country (only applies if you were UK resident in one of the previous three years).

Split Year Treatment

Normally, an individual is either resident or non-resident for the entire tax year.  However, under strict conditions, the year of departure or arrival can be split into a UK part and an overseas part.

The rules define eight specific split year cases. For instance, Case 1 applies to starting full-time work overseas, Case 6 applies to ceasing full-time work overseas, and other cases cover acquiring or disposing of a UK home, or starting full-time work in the UK.  When a year is split, you only pay UK tax on foreign income and gains that arise during the UK part of the tax year.

The New 4-Year FIG Regime (From April 2025)

The concept of domicile was abolished for tax purposes from 6 April 2025.  In its place, the government introduced the Foreign Income and Gains (FIG) relief regime.

For the 2026/27 tax year, new arrivals to the UK benefit from 100% relief on their foreign income and gains during their first four years of tax residence, provided they were non-UK resident for the 10 consecutive tax years immediately prior to their arrival.  During this 4-year window, individuals can freely bring their FIG into the UK without incurring a tax charge. Overseas Workday Relief (OWR) is also available for the first four years, capping relief at the lower of £300,000 or 30% of an individual’s total employment income.

Inheritance Tax (IHT) Long-Term Resident Test

IHT also shifted to a residence-based model. Under section 6A(1) of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984, an individual becomes a “long-term UK resident” (bringing their worldwide estate, including non-UK assets, into the scope of UK IHT) if they have been UK resident for at least 10 of the previous 20 tax years.

Once you achieve long-term resident status, you remain in scope for IHT on your worldwide assets for between 3 and 10 years after leaving the UK, depending on exactly how many years you were resident.

2026/27 UK Tax Rates Overview

Once you confirm UK residency, your taxable UK income and (for those outside the FIG regime) worldwide income face the following 2026/27 brackets:

• Income Tax: The Personal Allowance remains frozen at £12,570. The basic rate (20%) limit is £37,700, making the higher rate (40%) threshold £50,270.  The additional rate (45%) applies to income above £125,140.
• Capital Gains Tax (CGT): For standard assets, CGT is levied at 18% for basic rate taxpayers and 24% for higher/additional rate taxpayers.

Summary Table: UK Residency and Taxation (2026/27)

For completeness, if a client is returning to the UK after a period of absence of 5 years or less, you must review the temporary non-residence rules, as certain gains and income arising during the overseas period may become taxable in the year of return.