Leaving the UK is not a clean break from HMRC. While the UK has no exit tax — unlike France, Canada, or Germany, there is no deemed disposal of your worldwide assets when you depart — non-residence does not automatically end your UK tax obligations. The UK retains taxing rights on UK-source income and gains indefinitely, and the rules that determine when you become non-resident are more demanding than many people expect.
This post covers the key framework: how HMRC decides when you stop being a UK tax resident, what happens in the year you leave, what you still owe after you go, and what forms you need to file.
The Statutory Residence Test
Since April 2013, UK tax residency has been determined by the Statutory Residence Test (SRT) — a structured framework that applies to everyone, regardless of nationality or the reason for leaving. The SRT works in stages, and you must apply it sequentially.
Stage 1 — Automatic overseas tests
If you meet any of the automatic overseas tests, you are non-resident for the entire tax year and need go no further. The most relevant for leavers are:
- You were UK resident in one or more of the previous three tax years, and spend fewer than 16 days in the UK in the current year
- You were not UK resident in any of the previous three tax years, and spend fewer than 46 days in the UK in the current year
- You work full-time overseas (at least 35 hours per week on average, with no more than 30 UK workdays and fewer than 91 UK days in total) for a full tax year
Stage 2 — Automatic UK tests
If you do not meet any automatic overseas test, you are automatically UK resident if you spend 183 or more days in the UK in the tax year, or if the UK is your only home and you are present in it for at least 30 days.
Stage 3 — Sufficient ties test
If you fall into neither automatic category, your residency is determined by a combination of how many days you spend in the UK and how many of five defined "UK ties" you have — a family tie, an accommodation tie, a work tie, a 90-day tie (if you spent more than 90 days in the UK in either of the two previous tax years), and a country tie (whether the UK is the country where you spend the most days).
The practical implication for leavers: unless you meet the full-time overseas work test, spending 16 or more days in the UK in the year of departure — or the years following — can keep you resident or complicate your position significantly. Day counting is not optional; it is the single most important record-keeping task for anyone attempting to become non-resident.
Split year treatment
In most cases, you will leave the UK partway through a tax year (6 April to 5 April). Rather than treating the entire year as either resident or non-resident, HMRC allows split year treatment in certain circumstances — dividing the year into a UK-resident part (before departure) and an overseas part (after departure).
Split year treatment is not automatic and cannot be chosen — you must meet the strict criteria of at least one of eight defined Cases. For most leavers, the relevant Cases are:
- Case 1: You start full-time work overseas during the tax year and meet specific conditions on UK day counts and workdays for the overseas part
- Case 4: You cease to have a UK home during the year and spend fewer than 16 days in the UK in the overseas part
Where split year treatment applies, income and gains arising in the overseas part of the year are generally outside the scope of UK tax — which can be significant if you are planning to realise gains on investments or overseas assets after your departure date.
One important caveat: split year treatment is a UK domestic rule. It is not recognised by most double taxation agreements (DTAs), which means the treaty position may differ from the domestic UK position. In some cases, you could be treaty-resident in the UK for the whole year even where HMRC grants split year treatment domestically — a complexity that requires professional advice if you have assets or income in a DTA country.
What you still owe after leaving
Becoming non-resident removes UK tax on most foreign income and gains, but the UK retains taxing rights in several important areas:
UK-source income
Non-residents remain liable to UK income tax on income arising in the UK — most commonly rental income from UK property, UK pension income, and interest from UK banks. Rental income must be reported under the Non-Resident Landlord (NRL) scheme, under which your letting agent or tenant deducts basic rate tax at source unless you have applied to HMRC to receive rent gross.
UK residential property gains
Capital gains on UK residential property must be reported to HMRC within 60 days of completion, even as a non-resident. This applies regardless of whether you owe any tax, and failure to report within 60 days triggers an automatic penalty. The gain is calculated using standard CGT rules and current rates (18% basic rate, 24% higher rate for residential property from October 2024).
Temporary non-residence anti-avoidance
If you leave the UK, realise gains or receive certain income while abroad, then return within five complete tax years, HMRC brings those gains and income back into charge in the year of your return. This rule is specifically designed to prevent individuals from temporarily departing to crystallise gains at zero UK tax. To escape it entirely, you must remain non-resident for more than five complete tax years.
Key dates and figures
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Automatic non-residence (prior UK resident) | Fewer than 16 UK days in the tax year |
| Automatic non-residence (not prior UK resident) | Fewer than 46 UK days in the tax year |
| Full-time overseas work test | 35+ hours/week average, max 30 UK workdays, fewer than 91 UK days |
| Temporary non-residence period | Must remain non-resident for 5+ complete tax years to avoid clawback |
| UK property CGT reporting deadline | 60 days from completion |
| Personal allowance (2026/27) | £12,570 — still available to non-residents who are EEA nationals or claim under a DTA |
What you need to file
Form P85
If you are leaving to work overseas full-time, or if you expect a tax refund, you should submit form P85 to HMRC. This notifies HMRC of your departure date, destination country, and what is happening to your UK income. HMRC will update your tax code for any continuing UK income and, if applicable, process a refund — since your personal allowance is spread across 12 months, leaving mid-year typically means you have overpaid income tax for the months remaining in the year. From 2025/26, HMRC introduced a UK bank transfer option for P85 refunds, making the process significantly faster than the previous cheque method.
Self Assessment — SA100 and SA109
In the year of departure, you will almost certainly need to file a Self Assessment return. The main return (SA100) covers your income and gains for the year. The supplementary pages SA109 — now renamed "Residence and Foreign Income and Gains (FIG) regime" from 2025/26 — is where you declare your residence status and claim split year treatment if applicable. HMRC can enquire into a split year claim for up to four years after filing, so keeping contemporaneous records is essential.
Records to keep: flight itineraries and boarding passes, accommodation receipts, employment contracts with overseas start dates, lease or utility termination dates for your UK address, and a day-by-day calendar log of where you were at midnight. The burden of proof lies with you, not HMRC.
The end of the non-dom regime — what changed in April 2025
From 6 April 2025, the long-standing non-domiciled (non-dom) regime was abolished. The remittance basis — which allowed long-term UK residents to shelter foreign income and gains from UK tax by not bringing them into the UK — no longer exists. In its place, a new Foreign Income and Gains (FIG) regime applies to individuals who have been non-resident for the previous 10 years. Under FIG, new arrivals to the UK can benefit from four years of relief on foreign income and gains. For leavers, the abolition of non-dom status means that anyone who was relying on the remittance basis to defer offshore income needs to review their position carefully — particularly in light of the new inheritance tax rules, which from 6 April 2025 base the charge on non-UK assets on whether a person is a "long-term resident" (broadly, UK resident for 10 of the previous 20 tax years).
Leaving the UK and unsure where you stand?
Residency questions are complex and the consequences of getting it wrong are significant. We can help you understand your position and ensure your HMRC obligations are properly managed.
Get in TouchThis article is for general information purposes and does not constitute tax advice. The Statutory Residence Test is complex and individual circumstances vary significantly. Always seek professional advice before making decisions about your residence status or tax position.