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How many days can you spend in the UK? Walk the test in HMRC's order

"Stay under 183 days and nothing else matters" is the line that gets people caught. Answer a few plain questions and this page walks through HMRC's Statutory Residence Test in its exact order — stopping the moment a test decides — showing which test your answers reach and the day thresholds HMRC publishes for it.

Follows HMRC's RDR3 Statutory Residence Test guidance. The RDR3 publication page showed last updated 11 June 2026 when this walkthrough was written; check the current version before relying on it.

Not tax or legal advice, and not a residence determination. This is an educational walkthrough of the day-count and ties factors only. It does not tell you whether you are UK resident, and it is not a substitute for an accountant.

Read this before you start — what it does not cover. It works from five self-declared answers, so it can only take them at face value. It does not resolve the automatic UK "home" test or the full-time-UK-work test, the full conditions of the full-time-overseas test, exceptional-circumstances days, the deeming rule, transit days, or split-year treatment — any of which can change the answer for a real person. It has no tax-year selector. Where your answers land close to a threshold, or where any of the above might apply, the honest output is "take this to a qualified adviser", and that is what it will say.

The published day thresholds at a glance

These are the published thresholds. Which one applies depends on the tests before it and on facts this page can't check, so they don't tell you your status.

Fewer than 16 UK days in the tax year if you were UK resident in one or more of the previous 3 tax years (automatic overseas test).
Fewer than 46 UK days if you were resident in none of them.
Fewer than 91 UK days with full-time work overseas (conditions apply).
183 days or more in the UK makes you automatically UK resident.

Table A — UK resident in 1 or more of the previous 3 tax years

Days spent in the UK in the tax year and UK ties needed (sufficient ties test)
Days spent in the UK in the tax year	UK ties needed
More than 15 but not more than 45	At least 4
More than 45 but not more than 90	At least 3
More than 90 but not more than 120	At least 2
More than 120	At least 1

Table B — UK resident in none of the previous 3 tax years

Days spent in the UK in the tax year and UK ties needed (sufficient ties test)
Days spent in the UK in the tax year	UK ties needed
More than 45 but not more than 90	All 4
More than 90 but not more than 120	At least 3
More than 120	At least 2

Source: HMRC Residence and FIG Regime Manual (RDRM), checked against the manuals on 1 October 2026. See also the country tie guide for citations.

1 · Overseas

2 · Automatic UK

3 · Ties

Were you UK tax-resident in any of the last 3 tax years?

Why this matters & how to know

UK tax years run 6 April → 5 April. This sets which automatic-overseas day limit applies: 16 days if you were resident in any of the last 3 years, 46 days if you were resident in none. How to know: did you file UK returns as resident, or spend most of those years here? If you only left the UK recently, you were almost certainly resident in the prior years — a leaver.

Roughly how many days will you spend in the UK this tax year?

A "day" is generally being in the UK at midnight. Drag or type — everything below updates live.

Test 1 · applied first

Automatic overseas tests

Do you work full-time, mostly overseas? (the third overseas test)

What "full-time overseas" requires

All must hold: you work full-time overseas across the year, spend fewer than 91 days in the UK, do not work more than 3 hours a day in the UK on more than 30 days in the tax year, and take no significant break (31+ days with no 3-hour overseas workday, ignoring annual, sick or parenting leave). A long UK stretch breaks it. This walkthrough takes your answer at face value — it does not collect those conditions and cannot check HMRC's "sufficient hours" working-time formula, so confirm them separately. Source: HMRC RFIG20740 — "in order to meet the third automatic overseas test an individual must not work more than 3 hours a day in the UK on more than 30 days in the tax year". Source checked 7 September 2026.

"…non-UK resident if you were resident in the UK for one or more of the 3 tax years before … and spend fewer than 16 days." / "…resident in none of the 3 tax years before … and spend fewer than 46 days."HMRC RDR3

Test 2 · flagged, not resolved

Automatic UK tests

What HMRC means by "a home" (the one that trips people)

Not about ownership. A "home" is a place you use with enough permanence to live in. You're caught by the home test only if, in a 91-day stretch (30+ of it this tax year), you had a UK home you were in 30+ days and either no overseas home or you spent fewer than 30 days at an overseas home that year.

Worked example. A family home outside the UK used 30+ days in the year, and in the UK you stay at a parent's. Having an overseas home you use 30+ days means this particular test is not the one that catches you. The parent's place is a question for the accommodation tie below — a different test with a different threshold. This walkthrough flags the home test rather than resolving it, because whether somewhere is a "home" turns on the facts.

Second automatic UK test turns on a 91-day UK-home period, 30+ of those days in the year, present 30+ days, with no overseas home (or under 30 days at one).HMRC RDR3 · this tool flags it rather than fully resolving it

Test 3 · only if 1 and 2 do not apply

Sufficient ties

Under this test, the more UK ties someone has, the lower the day threshold at which the test makes them resident. Answer these and the page counts the ties; it does not judge them.

A UK-resident husband/wife/civil partner, or a child under 18 you see in the UK?

Family tie — what counts

A UK-resident spouse or civil partner (unless separated), a partner you live with as if married or in a civil partnership, or a minor child (under 18) who is UK resident and whom you see on 61+ UK days. Not parents, siblings, adult children or friends. "Does a sister count?" No — spouse/civil partner or minor child only.

Somewhere in the UK available to you to stay (your own place, or a relative's) that you actually use?

Accommodation tie — two separate conditions

HMRC RFIG20550 (checked 7 September 2026): a place to live in the UK that is available to you for a continuous period of 91 days or more in the tax year, and you spend 1 or more nights there — or, if it is the home of a close relative, 16 or more nights. Close relative means a parent or grandparent, a brother or sister, or a child or grandchild aged 18 or over.

Both conditions, not one. Availability and nights spent are separate questions about separate facts. A low night count does not by itself show a place was unavailable to you. Gaps of fewer than 16 days in availability still count towards the continuous 91-day period, and where you have more than one UK place each is considered separately.

Will you work more than 3 hours a day in the UK on 40 or more days this tax year?

Work tie — the boundary is "more than 3 hours"

HMRC RFIG20740 (checked 7 September 2026): "an individual will have a work tie if they work more than 3 hours a day in the UK on 40 days or more". Exactly three hours is not more than three hours — the two are different boundaries, so record the hours, not just the day. The 40 days need not be consecutive, and remote work for a foreign employer while you are physically in the UK counts. HMRC also says an individual needs to keep records identifying the hours worked in a given day.

Did you spend more than 90 days (91+) in the UK in either of the last two tax years?

90-day tie

More than 90 days (91+) in the UK in one or both of the two tax years before this one. Exactly 90 does not count. If you only left the UK recently you almost certainly have this for a year or two.

Will the UK be the country you spend the most days in this tax year — including joint most?

Country tie — leavers only

HMRC RFIG20580 (checked 8 September 2026): a tie if the UK is the country where you were present at midnight for the greatest number of days in the tax year. HMRC adds that where the greatest number is the same for two or more countries and one of them is the UK, the country tie still applies — a joint highest UK count is enough. Only applies to leavers. More midnights in another single country than in the UK → this tie does not apply. Equal highest midnights in the UK and somewhere else → it does.

Ties counted: 1

What this walkthrough does not resolve. It works only from the day-count and ties factors you entered. It does not resolve the automatic UK "home" test or the full-time-UK-work test, the full conditions of the full-time-overseas test, exceptional-circumstances days, the deeming rule, transit days, or split-year treatment, and it has no tax-year selector. It is not a residence determination. Check the current HMRC RDR3 guidance and take your documented position to a qualified adviser before acting on it.

Questions people ask about this

How many days can you spend in the UK without becoming tax resident?

There is no single number. 183 days or more in the UK makes you automatically UK resident. Below that, HMRC's Statutory Residence Test decides, applied in order: the automatic overseas tests, then the automatic UK tests, then the sufficient ties test. Under the sufficient ties test the day threshold falls as your number of UK ties rises. This walkthrough is educational, is not tax advice, and does not determine anyone's residence status.

Does the 183-day rule mean you are safe under 183 days?

No. 183 days makes you automatically resident, but you can become UK resident on far fewer days through the automatic UK tests or the sufficient ties test. 183 is the line above which you are automatically resident, not the line below which nothing else applies.

What is the UK Statutory Residence Test (SRT)?

HMRC's test for whether you are UK tax resident in a tax year. Applied in order: automatic overseas tests, automatic UK tests, then sufficient ties, stopping as soon as one gives an answer. See HMRC guidance RDR3.

What counts as a UK tie?

Five ties: a UK-resident spouse, civil partner or cohabiting partner, or minor child; available UK accommodation you use, or 16 or more nights there if it is a close relative's home; working more than 3 hours a day in the UK on 40 or more days; more than 90 UK days in either of the last two tax years; and, for leavers, being present at midnight in the UK on the greatest number of days of any country, which includes being joint greatest with another country. The more ties, the lower the day threshold at which the sufficient ties test makes you resident.

Hopping around Europe too? The Schengen 90/180 rule is a separate, immigration rule and is not covered anywhere on this page — use the official EU short-stay calculator for that. Nomad Pro keeps both records side by side. Nothing here is immigration or visa advice.

Keeping the record is the part that takes all year 🧭

This page is a one-off walkthrough of the published thresholds. Nomad Pro is an iOS app for the ongoing half: logging your days as you go, counting them against these same tests, keeping the hours behind a UK work day, and exporting the year for you and your accountant. It records and counts — it does not give tax advice and does not determine your residence status.

Get Nomad Pro on the App Store →

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.

Based on HMRC RDR3 guidance, and on RFIG20550, RFIG20580 and RFIG20740 where cited above (RFIG20550 and RFIG20740 checked 7 September 2026; RFIG20580 checked 8 September 2026) · Not a residence determination · Not affiliated with, endorsed by or approved by HM Revenue & Customs.