UK days tracker: count your UK tax days and keep the records as you go
This page explains what a UK days tracker needs to do. It also shows how Nomad Pro counts your UK tax days and keeps the records as you go.
Free to download. Core tracking is free, including your first AI import. Premium: £4.99 a month or £49.99 a year. 3-day free trial, then auto-renews · cancel any time.
Educational, not tax advice.
What is a UK days tracker?
A UK days tracker records where you were each night. It counts your UK days for the UK tax year, which runs from 6 April to 5 April.[7]
HMRC counts a day as a UK day if you’re in the UK at the end of it (midnight). There are a few exceptions, covered below.[1]
Nomad Pro is an iPhone app that does this from quick daily or weekly check-ins. It also:
- tracks your Schengen 90/180 days
- keeps a day-by-day travel and work-day record on your device
- exports CSV and PDF summaries for an accountant or adviser
Nomad Pro keeps records and counts days. It doesn’t give tax advice or decide your residence status.
Why use a tracker if your bookings already exist?
Your records already exist. They’re just scattered: flight confirmations in your inbox, hotel and Airbnb receipts, card payments abroad, entries in your calendar.
The hard part is gathering them later. Turning years of old emails and statements into a day-by-day count is slow work.
A tracker collects the record as you go. Then the count is ready when you, or an adviser, need it.
What does a UK days tracker need to get right?
Whichever method you use, a UK day count needs to handle six things.
- Midnights, not calendar days. HMRC counts a day as a UK day if you’re here at the end of it (midnight). A day trip that ends abroad before midnight doesn’t usually count. An evening arrival does, if you’re still here at midnight.[1]
- The UK tax year, 6 April to 5 April. The count runs from 6 April to 5 April the following year, not the calendar year. Each tax year is looked at separately.[7][6]
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Same-day visits, logged anyway. Under the deeming rule, some UK days without a midnight still count.[2] The rule applies for a tax year if all three of these are true:
- you were UK resident in 1 or more of the 3 previous tax years
- you have at least 3 UK ties for that year (connections to the UK, like work or family)[7]
- you were in the UK on more than 30 days without being here at midnight
Then every such day after the first 30 counts. HMRC doesn’t use these days for the day limit in the third automatic overseas test (for people working full-time overseas). A record of midnights alone can’t show any of this.[2]
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Transit days, marked separately. Some overnight stops between two other countries don’t count. You need a through ticket, and you must arrive as a passenger and leave as a passenger the next day. You also mustn’t do anything substantially unrelated to the journey. HMRC’s examples of unrelated activity include seeing friends or a work meeting. If all that applies, the arrival day doesn’t count. The departure day can still be a qualifying day (a UK day without a midnight) under the deeming rule.[3]
- UK work days of more than 3 hours. The Statutory Residence Test (SRT) is HMRC’s test of UK residence. Several of its tests look at days when you work for more than 3 hours. HMRC’s record-keeping guidance asks people whose status depends on the full-time work tests to note those days. Log them separately from your UK days. See UK work days and the SRT.[6][4]
- A record someone else can check. For people with UK connections, HMRC lists records that show which countries you spent your days and midnights in. They include travel schedules, booking information, and tickets and boarding cards (including e-tickets). An export should let an adviser see the dates behind the count.[5]
Spreadsheet, web tracker or app: which should you choose?
All three can work. The difference is how much of the counting and upkeep falls on you.
| Question | Spreadsheet | Free web tracker | App |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you do | Enter every date and build the formulas | Enter your trips; it does the counting | Check in daily or weekly; it does the counting |
| Counts midnights in the 6 April to 5 April year | Only if your formulas do | Usually; check its rules | Usually; check its rules |
| Same-day visits and transit days | You add columns for them | Varies; check you can record them | Varies; check you can record them |
| Where your data lives | Your own file | Often one browser on one device, or an online account | On your phone, sometimes with cloud sync |
| Reminders | Only ones you set up | Usually none | Usually built in |
| Schengen 90/180 | A separate rolling calculation to build | Some include it | Some include it |
| Export for an adviser | It’s already a file | Often CSV | Varies; often CSV or PDF |
| Cost | Free | Usually free | Free to paid |
A well-kept spreadsheet is a perfectly good method. The work is in keeping it current and getting the date maths right every time.
A tracker app’s job is to take that part off you. It also makes the daily entry quick enough that it actually gets done.
How does Nomad Pro track your UK days?
Nomad Pro is an iPhone app for British nomads and expats. It counts UK days and Schengen 90/180 days from daily or weekly check-ins. On the App Store it’s called Nomad Pro: Tax Day Counter.
Daily or weekly check-ins
Record where you were and whether you worked. Reminders are set on your phone. With location permission, Nomad Pro can suggest the country you’re in when you check in. A home-screen widget shows whether today is logged.
Your tax-year picture
The dashboard turns your check-ins into four things for the tax year:
- a UK day count
- a UK work-day count
- your Schengen position
- country stay-limit watchpoints
Your ties and your limit
In setup, you add your departure date, citizenship and the UK ties that apply to you. Nomad Pro shows the day limit that applies to the ties you entered, and counts your UK days against it. It doesn’t decide whether you’re UK resident.
Plan before you book
The visual planner lets you model future stops and see where a route starts to add up.
A trip check shows what one planned trip does to your UK days, Schengen window and country stay limits. It reports the numbers. It doesn’t tell you what your tax position will be.
Checking a trip before you book is a Premium feature. Free users get one trip check free.
Records an adviser can use
Export CSV and PDF summaries from your records whenever you like, on the free plan. Premium adds an AI-written accountant report.
Kept on your device
Your travel record stays on your iPhone by default, and core tracking needs no account. iCloud Drive sync is optional and off until you turn it on in settings. Then Nomad Pro keeps a copy in its own iCloud Drive folder. You can see it in Files and on your other Apple devices.
Premium AI features and imports send the information they need to Nomad Pro’s server and an AI provider. The Privacy Policy sets out exactly what is sent.
What’s free, and what does Premium add?
Free includes:
- daily or weekly check-ins and reminders
- travel log and work-day records
- UK day count and dashboard for the Statutory Residence Test
- Schengen 90/180 tracking
- country stay-limit tracking
- visual planner for future routes
- CSV and PDF exports
- your first AI import
- one trip check free
Premium (£4.99 a month or £49.99 a year) adds:
- type trips in plain words (“three nights in Lisbon”)
- AI gap checks on your record
- plain-English explanations of your result
- bank statement and history imports
- AI-written accountant reports
- check a trip before you book
Premium starts with a 3-day free trial, then auto-renews as an App Store subscription. You can cancel any time in your App Store subscription settings.
What can’t a tracker do?
Nomad Pro counts the days you record. It doesn’t decide your residence status, judge your ties beyond what you enter, or replace an adviser.
Some parts of the test turn on facts that no tracker can judge for you. Two examples are exceptional circumstances and split-year treatment. Exceptional circumstances are events beyond your control that kept you in the UK. Split-year treatment splits a tax year in two when you move in or out of the UK.[7]
Not sure what your limit is yet?
- Try the free UK residence day calculator.
- Start with Am I a UK tax resident?
- For why 183 days isn’t the whole story, read the 183-day myth.
- For what to keep, see SRT record keeping and why documentation matters.
Frequently asked questions
Does a day count if I leave the UK before midnight?
Usually not. HMRC counts a UK day as one where you’re in the UK at the end of the day. But if the deeming rule applies to you, days without a midnight count after the first 30. That’s why a tracker should log same-day visits too.[1][2]
Is a spreadsheet good enough?
Yes, if you keep it up to date and it counts midnights in the tax year (6 April to 5 April). The work is in the upkeep and the date maths. An app takes that part off you.
Does Nomad Pro work out my UK day limit?
It shows the day limit that applies to the ties you enter, and counts your UK days against it. It doesn’t decide whether you’re UK resident.
Does Nomad Pro track Schengen days as well?
Yes, Schengen 90/180 tracking is in the free plan. Schengen is an immigration rule: up to 90 days in any 180-day period. It’s checked by counting back 180 days from each day of your stay. That’s a different count from UK tax days. Not tax or immigration advice — check your own position.[8]
Where is my data stored?
On your device, and core tracking needs no account. iCloud Drive sync is optional and off by default. If you turn it on in settings, Nomad Pro keeps a copy in its own iCloud Drive folder. You can see that copy in Files and on your other Apple devices. Premium AI features and imports send the data they need to Nomad Pro’s server and an AI provider. The Privacy Policy explains this.
How much does Nomad Pro cost?
It’s free to download, and core tracking is free, including your first AI import. Premium is £4.99 a month or £49.99 a year, with a 3-day free trial. It adds AI imports, gap checks, plain-English explanations and accountant reports.
Can I add trips from before I started using the app?
Yes. You can add older travel during setup or fill it in later. Your first AI import is free. Premium adds bank statement imports and imports of past travel history.
Ready to start your record?
Nomad Pro is free to download, and core tracking is free. Premium is £4.99 a month or £49.99 a year, with a 3-day free trial. It keeps records and counts days. It isn’t tax advice.
Sources
gov.uk pages checked on 3 October 2026. The dates in brackets are each page’s recorded public-update date, not the date the law changed.
- RFIG20710: Meaning of a day spent in the UK (4 April 2025)
- RFIG20720: The deeming rule (4 April 2025)
- RFIG20730: Transit days (4 April 2025)
- RFIG21930: Record keeping, working hours and location of work done (4 April 2025)
- RFIG21940: Record keeping, the sufficient ties test (4 April 2025)
- RDR3: Statutory Residence Test (SRT) notes (11 June 2026)
- GOV.UK: Tax on foreign income, UK residence and tax
- European Commission: Short-stay calculator
Educational information, not tax advice. UK residence can turn on detailed facts and current law. If your position is close to a threshold or commercially significant, use current HMRC guidance and take advice from a qualified professional.
Nomad Pro is a record-keeping tool. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or approved by HM Revenue & Customs.