Free · cited to HMRC
Leaving the UK
The UK decides your residence by counting days and weighing ties, and it reserves the right to tax you on the way back in. This is the whole record, cited, before anyone personalises it for you.
Sources verified 2026-08-03
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When you stop being a tax resident
The Statutory Residence Test runs in a fixed order. You are non-resident if you meet an automatic overseas test; if you do not, the automatic UK tests and then the sufficient ties test decide it.
- 16 or 46 days
You are usually non-resident if you spent fewer than 16 days in the UK in the tax year, or fewer than 46 if you have not been UK resident in the three previous tax years.
- 35 hrs / 91 days
Working abroad full-time also makes you non-resident: an average of at least 35 hours a week, with fewer than 91 days in the UK and no more than 30 of those spent working.
- 183 days
You are resident under the automatic UK tests if you spent 183 days or more in the UK, or your only home was in the UK for 91 days or more in a row and you stayed in it at least 30 days, or you worked full-time in the UK for any 365-day period touching the tax year.
- Cases 1 to 3
You are resident for a whole tax year, but that year can be split into a UK part and an overseas part. A departure engages split year cases 1 to 3; where more than one applies, priority ordering decides which, and from what date.
- No treaty relief
Sole UK residence means you were resident for the year and at no point in it were you treaty non-resident. It is the unit the temporary non-residence rules are counted in.
What leaving costs
The UK charges no exit tax on departure. It does something else instead: if you come back too soon, it reaches back and taxes what you received while you were away.
- Charged on return
Return after a period of temporary non-residence and you may be taxed, in the year you return, on income and gains you received or remitted during the whole period you were away.
- 4 of 7 years
You are temporarily non-resident if you had sole UK residence in 4 or more of the 7 tax years before you left and your period of non-residence lasts 5 years or less.
- 5 years + 1 day
Above 5 years the rules stop applying, and HMRC means 5 years plus one day. Leaving on 4 May 2015 and returning on 4 May 2020 is not long enough.
- Property excepted
As a non-resident you do not normally pay UK tax when you sell an asset. UK property and land are the exception.
- Day after, day before
Your period of temporary non-residence starts the day after the last residence period in which you had sole UK residence, and ends the day before the next one begins.
Leaving is half the question.
Everything above is the published record, and it is true of anyone leaving the UK. Whether it is worth paying depends on the other half: where you would go, which residence routes you actually qualify for, and when living there starts making you tax resident there.
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What you have to file, and when
Telling HMRC you have gone is a filing, not an email, and which form you use depends on whether you already complete a tax return.
- One full tax year
You must tell HMRC if you are leaving the UK to live abroad permanently, or going to work abroad full-time for at least one full tax year. Holidays and business trips do not trigger it.
- Form P85
If you do not normally complete a Self Assessment return, you tell HMRC on form P85, sending parts 2 and 3 of your P45 with it. Continuing to work for a UK company abroad still means filing the P85.
- SA109, by post
If you do complete a Self Assessment return, you tell HMRC through the residence section, form SA109, and it has to go by post. HMRC's online service cannot be used to tell them you are leaving.
- 5 previous years
Living abroad, you still usually file a Self Assessment return if you have taxable savings interest from UK banks or building societies, or a pension outside the UK and were UK resident in one of the previous 5 tax years.
- 52 weeks
Working in a country with no UK social security agreement, you pay UK National Insurance for the first 52 weeks if your employer has a place of business in the UK and you lived in the UK immediately before starting.
- Certificate of coverage
Working in a country that does have an agreement, a certificate of coverage evidences that you pay National Insurance in the UK and do not owe local social security contributions.
The four that catch people
- 16 days
Fewer than this many days in the UK and an automatic overseas test makes you non-resident, or 46 days if you were not resident in the previous three tax years.
- 183 days
At or above this, an automatic UK test makes you resident regardless of where else you live.
- 5 years + 1 day
Stay away for less than this and returning can pull the income and gains of your whole absence back into UK charge.
- 4 of 7
Sole UK residence in this many of the 7 tax years before departure is what makes the temporary non-residence rules apply to you at all.
What people get wrong about leaving the UK
Each of these is something a confident search result will tell you. Each is wrong, and the rule that corrects it is named.
Commonly believed
“I was out of the country for four years, so the UK has no claim on that time.”What the rule says
Four years is inside the temporary non-residence window. If you had sole UK residence in 4 or more of the 7 tax years before you left, returning within 5 years lets HMRC tax income and gains from the whole period abroad in your year of return. The break has to exceed 5 years, meaning 5 years and a day.RDR3 Statutory Residence Test, HM Revenue and Customs
Commonly believed
“I spent under 183 days in the UK, so I am non-resident.”What the rule says
183 days makes you resident, but staying under it does not make you non-resident. You are non-resident only if you meet an automatic overseas test, such as under 16 days, or fail the automatic UK tests and the sufficient ties test. Having your only home in the UK for 91 days in a row can make you resident on far fewer than 183 days.Tax on foreign income: UK residence and tax, HM Revenue and Customs
Commonly believed
“I told HMRC I was leaving through my online account.”What the rule says
If you complete a Self Assessment return, the residence section is form SA109 and it must be sent by post. HMRC's online services cannot be used to tell them you are leaving the UK, so an online submission does not do it.Tax if you leave the UK to live abroad, HM Revenue and Customs
Commonly believed
“Once I am non-resident the UK stops taxing me entirely.”What the rule says
You usually still pay UK tax on UK income. What changes is that foreign income falls out of charge. Rent, some pensions and UK savings interest can remain taxable, and a double-taxation agreement relieves being taxed twice rather than removing the UK charge.Tax on your UK income if you live abroad, HM Revenue and Customs
Commonly believed
“I left in November, so the UK tax year splits there automatically.”What the rule says
Split year treatment is not automatic. You are resident for the whole year unless one of the departure cases 1 to 3 is met, each with its own conditions, and where several apply a priority ordering decides which case governs and from what date.RDR3 Statutory Residence Test, HM Revenue and Customs
Questions people ask about leaving the UK
- When does the UK tax year actually end?
5 April, with the next one starting 6 April. Every day count in the Statutory Residence Test is measured against that year, not the calendar year, which is what makes a December departure land differently from a June one.
- Do I keep paying National Insurance while I work abroad?
Usually you pay social security where you work. In a country with no UK agreement you pay UK National Insurance for the first 52 weeks if your employer has a UK place of business and you lived in the UK immediately before. In an agreement country, a certificate of coverage shows you pay in the UK instead of locally.
- Can I still make voluntary National Insurance contributions?
You may be able to pay voluntary contributions while working abroad. Whether you are eligible depends on your circumstances, and it is worth checking before a gap opens rather than after.
- Will I be taxed twice on the same income?
The country you move to may tax your UK income. Where it has a double-taxation agreement with the UK, you can claim relief in the UK so the same income is not taxed twice. If you have already claimed under an agreement, you do not need to report that income to HMRC again.
- Does selling my UK house after I leave trigger UK tax?
Non-residents do not normally pay UK tax on disposals, but UK property and land are the stated exception, so a UK house is exactly the asset that stays in charge after you go.
This is the general record. Your dates are what make it a plan.
Everything above is true of anyone leaving the UK, which is why it is free. What it cannot tell you is which of these applies to you, in what order, against your assets and the date you actually go. That sequencing is the Exit Plan, and it is offered alongside a verified plan, because the plan is what gets checked first.
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