Top Tip – Sufficient UK Ties Test and Split Years
Top Tip – Sufficient UK Ties Test and Split Years
Last updated on October 11th, 2021 at 10:07 am
Last week we looked at the three statutory UK residency tests. We looked at the ‘automatically not UK resident’ test and the ‘automatically UK resident’ test and finished with a look at the sufficient UK ties test. There are five UK ties and to quickly remind you of what they are:
- Having a spouse, civil partner or minor children resident in the UK
- Accommodation in the UK
- Doing substantive work in the UK (40 or more days a tax year)
- Spending more than 90 days in the UK during either of the 2 previous years
- Spending more time in the UK than in any other single country (this only applies when you leave the UK)
As part of this test, a person will need to compare the number of days they spend in the UK against how many of these UK ties they have:
| Days spent in the UK | Number of UK ties which would make an ‘arriver’ resident. (ie someone who has not been resident for the last 3 tax years). |
Number of UK ties which would make a ‘leaver’ resident. (ie someone who has been UK resident for any of the previous 3 tax years) |
| Less than 16 | Non-resident | Non-resident |
| 16 – 45 | Non-resident | 4 |
| 46 – 90 | 4 | 3 |
| 91 – 120 | 3 | 2 |
| 121 – 182 | 2 | 1 |
| More than 182 | Always resident | Always resident |
Split Year Treatment
Usually we are treated as resident or non-resident for a tax year – using the rules within the new statutory tests we detailed in last week’s article but a year can be split for periods of residence and non-residence if:
- You start to work full time overseas or someone comes to the UK for full time work
- You accompany your spouse or partner who is working full time overseas
- You leave the UK to live overseas and you no longer have a UK home
- You come to live in the UK – your only home is here or you work full time
