HMRC Residency Enquiry: Documentation Is Your Defence

What HMRC says about records

HMRC’s manual on the Statutory Residence Test (SRT) says you “will need to keep records and documents to support” what you say about your residence.[1]
It gives lists of the kinds of records it means. It says those lists “are not meant to be exhaustive”.[1]
For a home, HMRC says no one piece of evidence settles it. It looks at “the weight and quality of all the evidence” together.[2]

Who has to prove it? HMRC doesn’t say, in its SRT guidance, who carries the “burden of proof”. Del Canto Chambers, a barristers’ chambers, writes that it “typically falls on the taxpayer to demonstrate their whereabouts”.[9] That is their view, not HMRC’s wording.

The records HMRC lists

What you may need to show	Records HMRC names
Where you spent your days and midnights	Travel schedule, booking information, tickets and boarding cards, including e-tickets[4]
When you left or arrived in the UK	The date, visa or work permit applications, contracts of employment[4]
Your homes and other accommodation	When you were there, when you bought, sold or leased it, and when it wasn’t available to you (for example, rented out)[4]
Whether a place was really your home	Utility and phone bills, where your post goes, GP registration, and bank and card statements that show where you spent money day by day[2]
Your work days (full-time work tests)	Days you worked more than 3 hours, a work diary, calendar or timesheet, leave, breaks between jobs, and your contracts[3]
Days you were kept in the UK by exceptional circumstances	What happened, and what you did about it, such as making other travel arrangements[3]

Some facts are easier to show than others. The Tax Adviser magazine (CIOT) says boarding passes and passport stamps may be enough for UK days. Work days can be harder, “especially if trying to prove a negative”.[10]

Exceptional circumstances need evidence too. PKF Littlejohn’s write-up of A Taxpayer v HMRC [2023] UKUT 00182 (TCC) says you don’t need “an itemised timeline for each day”. But you must give enough evidence for a judgment on each day you claim.[11]

A simple routine for your records

Note where you are at the end of each day. HMRC counts a UK day if you’re in the UK at midnight. Some days count anyway under the deeming rule.[5]
Save each booking as it comes in. Keep the booking email, e-ticket, and Airbnb, Booking.com or hotel confirmation. One folder per tax year (6 April to 5 April) makes them easy to find.
If you work, note the hours. Mark UK days when you worked more than 3 hours. A calendar or timesheet does the job.[3]
Write down changes on the day. A new home, a lease ending, or a job starting or ending all change the picture.[4]
Mark unclear days as unclear. A labelled gap is more useful than a guess made months later. (That’s our advice, not HMRC’s.)
Export one dated record at year end. A PDF or spreadsheet you or your accountant can check against the SA109 residence pages.

How long to keep records

If you send your tax return on time, GOV.UK says keep your records for at least 22 months after the end of the tax year.[6]
Its example: a 2024 to 2025 return sent online by 31 January 2026 means keeping records until at least the end of January 2027.[6]
If you send it late, keep them for at least 15 months after you sent it.[6]

The SRT also looks back. Your 16-day and 46-day limits depend on whether you were UK resident in any of the previous 3 tax years.[12] The 90-day tie counts more than 90 UK days in either of the previous 2 tax years.[13] So this year’s records can matter for later years. HMRC doesn’t say how long to keep travel records for that reason.

How far back HMRC can look

Enquiry window. For a return sent on time, HMRC can open an enquiry up to 12 months after it received the return. If it was late, the window runs to the quarter date after the first anniversary of receipt.[7]
Discovery assessments. After that, HMRC can still assess tax it finds was lost. The normal limit is 4 years from the end of the tax year. It’s 6 years if the loss was careless and 20 years if it was deliberate.[8]
Offshore matters. A 12-year limit can apply where the lost tax involves an offshore matter or transfer.[8]

Records and penalties

HMRC’s factsheet CC/FS7a says it won’t charge a penalty for an inaccuracy if you took reasonable care. That holds even if the return was still wrong.[14] Ways to show reasonable care include:

keeping accurate records
keeping enough records to make accurate tax returns
keeping those records safe[14]

During a check, HMRC writes or phones to say what it wants to check. If you use an accountant, HMRC contacts them instead.[15] If HMRC sends an information notice and you don’t send the information, you may have to pay a penalty, unless you have a reasonable excuse.[15]

Where to start

You need to know your position before you can document it. Start with Am I a UK tax resident?, then run your year through the free walkthrough: How many days can you spend in the UK →

Not tax advice.

Frequently asked questions

Who has to prove UK tax residence?

HMRC’s SRT guidance doesn’t use the phrase “burden of proof”. It says you will need records and documents to support what you say about your residence. Del Canto Chambers, a barristers’ chambers, says the burden typically falls on the taxpayer to show where they were.

What records should I keep for an HMRC residence enquiry?

HMRC’s SRT manual lists travel schedules, booking information, and tickets and boarding cards. It also lists the dates you left or arrived, visa and work permit applications, employment contracts and details of your homes. For work days it lists a work diary, calendar or timesheet. It says the lists aren’t exhaustive.

Can good records reduce a penalty?

HMRC says it won’t charge a penalty for an inaccuracy if you took reasonable care to get things right. Keeping accurate records, and keeping them safe, are among the ways it lists to show reasonable care.

How far back can HMRC check my residence?

For a return sent on time, HMRC can open an enquiry up to 12 months after it received it. After that, a discovery assessment is normally possible up to 4 years after the end of the tax year. That rises to 6 years if the loss was careless, 12 years for some offshore matters, and 20 years if it was deliberate.

How long should I keep my travel records?

If your return was on time, GOV.UK says keep tax records for at least 22 months after the end of the tax year. If it was late, keep them for 15 months after you sent it. HMRC doesn’t give a separate rule for travel records. The SRT looks back up to 3 tax years, so older records can still matter.

Can I export my record for my accountant?

Yes. You can export your Nomad Pro log as a PDF or CSV and share it with your accountant. You add your trips yourself or import booking files and review each suggested stay. The app doesn’t collect your bookings for you.

Sources

Confirm your position with current HMRC guidance and a qualified adviser before acting.

Your best defence in an HMRC residency enquiry isn't your day count — it's your documentation