FAQ: Residence and domicile - day counting

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What changes are being made to day counting?

From April 2008, when deciding if an individual is resident in the UK for tax purposes, days will count if you are in the UK at the end of the day (ie at midnight) for residence test purposes.

What are the residence rules?

A person who is currently not resident in the UK will always be treated as resident in the UK if they spend 183 days or more in the UK in a tax year. If they visit the UK on a regular basis and spend, on average, 91 days or more in the UK in a tax year (taken over a period of four years), they will be treated as resident in the UK.

If they know that they are going to visit regularly and that the time spent in the UK in that and the next three tax years will average 91 days or more in the UK, they will be resident from the beginning of the tax year in which they make the first visit.

If they have been resident in the UK and, having left the UK, continue to visit, they will continue to be treated as resident if those visits average 91 days or more a tax year, taken over a maximum period of four years.

Will the current formula by which my tax is calculated remain unchanged if I remain non-resident?

There are no plans for changing the basis on which non-resident individuals are assessed for UK tax.

If I arrive in the UK and depart from the UK on the same day, will I have to count this as a day of presence in the UK for the purposes of residency tests?

No

How is the £2,000 unremitted foreign income and gains limit to be calculated in cases where an individual leaves the UK or arrives here part way through a tax year and is entitled to the benefit of ESC A11?

The £2,000 limit applies to all eligible individuals who want to claim the remittance basis for the tax year. It applies to all unremitted income or gains arising in that year. It does not matter if you are not present in the UK for the whole of the year.