Advanced Taxation (UK) · Statutory obligations, time limits and the implications of non-compliance

Statutory Residence Test and Reporting Implications for ACCA ATX

Updated 11 October 2026

The statutory residence test decides whether an individual is UK resident for a tax year. Apply the automatic overseas tests first, then the automatic UK tests. If neither settles it, count UK days and UK ties against the sufficient ties table. Residence status then affects what goes on the return.

Understand Statutory Residence Test and Reporting Implications

UK residence is decided tax year by tax year. It matters because a UK resident is normally taxed on worldwide income and gains, while a non-resident is taxed mainly on UK-source income. Residence is not a choice and is not the same as domicile.

The test works in a fixed order. First, check the automatic overseas tests. If one is met, the person is not resident and you stop. Second, check the automatic UK tests. If one is met, the person is resident and you stop. Third, if neither group applies, use the sufficient ties test, which compares days spent in the UK with the number of UK ties.

The sufficient ties test depends on whether the person was resident in the UK in one or more of the previous three tax years. Someone who was is a leaver (previously resident). Someone who was not is an arriver (not previously resident). Leavers face tougher thresholds because they have more connections to the UK. The more days in the UK, the fewer ties it takes to be resident.

Only the day and ties table (Table 6) is confirmed by the ACCA tax tables. The detailed conditions of the automatic tests, the tie definitions (such as the 40-day work tie) and the reporting rules are not in those tables. They come from the legislation or your study text, so verify each one there before you rely on it in the exam.

The duty to notify HMRC arises from being chargeable to tax, not from residence status itself. A person who is chargeable to tax and has not received a notice to file a return should tell HMRC. The usual deadline is 5 October after the end of the tax year (verify in your study text). Residence status then affects what is reported on the return, for example the residence pages and any claims that depend on residence. A wrong residence treatment can bring penalties and interest. Exam questions ask you to reach a conclusion and explain what the person must do about it.

Key rules to remember

Order of the test: Automatic overseas → automatic UK → sufficient ties; Apply the automatic overseas tests first. If one is met, the person is not resident and you do not need the UK tests. If none is met, apply the automatic UK tests. Stop as soon as one automatic test is met.
Automatic overseas test 1: Resident in 1 or more of the previous 3 tax years AND fewer than 16 days in UK; Result: not resident. This matches the 'less than 16' row of Table 6 in the ACCA tax tables.
Automatic overseas test 2: Not resident in any of the previous 3 tax years AND fewer than 46 days in UK; Result: not resident. This matches the arriver rows of Table 6 for under 16 days and 16 to 45 days.
Automatic overseas test 3: Full-time work overseas (average 35 hours a week, no significant break) AND fewer than 91 days in UK AND fewer than 31 days working more than 3 hours in UK; Result: not resident. These conditions are taken from the legislation or study text, not from the ACCA tax tables, so verify them in your study text and check the working days carefully.
Automatic UK tests: 183 days or more in UK; OR a UK home test; OR full-time work in the UK test; Result: resident. The 183 days or more rule is in Table 6. The home test needs a UK home owned or occupied for at least 91 consecutive days, with at least 30 of those days in the tax year. The person must also be present in that home on at least 30 separate days in the tax year, and have no overseas home (or none used for 30 days or more). The work test needs a 365-day period of full-time UK work (average 35 hours a week, no significant break), with at least part of it in the tax year. The home and work test details are not in the ACCA tax tables. They come from the legislation or study text, so verify them there.
Sufficient ties: leaver (previously resident): Under 16 days: not resident (this is automatic overseas test 1, not part of the ties test). Sufficient ties test: 16 to 45 days: resident if 4 ties or more. 46 to 90: 3 ties or more. 91 to 120: 2 ties or more. 121 to 182: 1 tie or more. 183 or more: resident (automatic UK test).; Taken from Table 6 in the ACCA tax tables, where each leaver row reads 'or more'. The under-16 and 183-or-more rows are settled by the automatic tests, so the ties test only matters for 16 to 182 days.
Sufficient ties: arriver (not previously resident): Under 46 days: not resident (this is automatic overseas test 2, not part of the ties test). Sufficient ties test: 46 to 90 days: resident if 4 ties. 91 to 120: 3 ties or more. 121 to 182: 2 ties or more. 183 or more: resident (automatic UK test).; Taken from Table 6. The official table writes 'or more' on some arriver rows only (91 to 120 and 121 to 182). The 46 to 90 row reads '4 UK ties'. An arriver has at most four possible ties, so 4 ties is the most they can have in that band. An arriver with under 46 days is automatically not resident, so the ties test only matters for 46 to 182 days.
UK ties: Family, accommodation, work, 90-day, and country (leavers only); The tie definitions are not in the ACCA tax tables, so take them from your study text and verify them. Family: a spouse or civil partner (unless separated), or a partner you live with as a couple, who is UK resident; or a minor child (under 18) who is UK resident, unless you see the child in the UK on fewer than 61 days in the tax year. Accommodation: available UK place to live. Work: 40 days or more working over 3 hours a day in the UK. 90-day: more than 90 days in the UK in either of the previous two tax years. Country: UK is where you spent the most midnights.
Day counting: A day counts if you are in the UK at midnight; There are exceptions, such as passing through in transit without doing anything unrelated to the travel. Verify the detail in your study text. In the exam, use the days given in the question.

How to solve Statutory Residence Test and Reporting Implications questions

Use the same sequence for every residence question. Write the test name as you go, because each step earns marks.

1Identify the tax year and whether the person was UK resident in any of the previous three tax years. This tells you leaver or arriver.
2Check the automatic overseas tests in turn, using days in the UK and any full-time overseas work. If one is met, conclude not resident and stop.
3Check the automatic UK tests: 183 days or more, a UK home, full-time UK work. If one is met, conclude resident and stop.
4If neither group applies, count the UK days and find the band in the sufficient ties table for a leaver or arriver.
5Count the UK ties from the facts: family, accommodation, work, 90-day, and country for a leaver only. Say why each tie does or does not apply.
6Compare the ties with the number the table needs. Conclude resident or not resident and state the reason.
7Add the reporting consequence: whether the person must notify chargeability by 5 October, what goes on the return, and the filing and payment dates relevant to the question.
8Say whether a split year might apply if the person arrived or left part-way through the year, but only if the facts point to it.

Quickest way: Table-first residence check

When to use it: Use this when the question gives days in the UK and a list of facts and asks for a quick residence conclusion.

Underline the days in the UK and the previous residence history.
Do the quick knock-outs: under 16 days for a leaver, or under 46 days for an arriver, means not resident. 183 days or more means resident.
Scan for full-time work abroad or a UK home that could trigger an automatic test.
Otherwise go straight to the table row for the day count and tick off the ties.
Write one line for the conclusion and one line for the reporting duty.

Common mistakes in Statutory Residence Test and Reporting Implications

Skipping to the sufficient ties test without checking the automatic tests.
The ties table is in the tax tables, so it feels like the main test.
Fix: Always state that you have checked the automatic overseas and UK tests first, and why they do not apply.
Using the leaver table for an arriver, or the other way round.
Students forget to look at residence in the previous three tax years.
Fix: Decide leaver or arriver before you open the table. Previously resident in any of the last three years means leaver.
Counting the country tie for an arriver.
All five ties are learned as one list.
Fix: Only leavers have the country tie. Arrivers have four possible ties.
Treating 'resident if 3 ties' as 'exactly 3 ties'.
Reading the table too fast.
Fix: The table means that number of ties or more makes the person resident.
Counting days by whole days spent, ignoring the midnight rule.
It seems natural to count days with any time in the UK.
Fix: A day counts if the person is in the UK at midnight, subject to the transit exception. Use the number of days given.
Giving a residence answer with no reporting consequence.
The requirement is read as a technical question only.
Fix: Add the self assessment step: notify chargeability by 5 October after the tax year if no return is issued, and include the residence details on the return.

Worked examples

Example 1

Mark was UK resident last year. This tax year he spent 100 days in the UK. He has a wife and children living in the UK, a house in the UK available to him, and he worked in the UK for 45 days, each over 3 hours. He has no overseas full-time job and no UK home that passes the home test. Is he UK resident?

Show the solution

Mark was resident in a previous tax year, so he is a leaver.
Automatic overseas tests: 100 days is not under 16, and he has no full-time overseas work, so none applies.
Automatic UK tests: 100 days is under 183, and no home or UK full-time work test applies as stated. None applies.
Sufficient ties: 100 days falls in the 91 to 120 band, where a leaver needs 2 or more ties (Table 6).
Ties: family (wife and children in the UK), accommodation (house available) and work (45 days of over 3 hours, which meets the 40-day work tie in the study text). That is at least 3 ties.
3 ties is more than the 2 needed, so he is resident.

Answer: Mark is UK resident for the year under the sufficient ties test. He should include the residence details on his self assessment return and notify HMRC by 5 October after the tax year if he has not been sent a return (verify the deadline in your study text).

Example 2

Anna has never lived in the UK. This tax year she spent 60 days here. She has a UK family tie, available UK accommodation and she worked in the UK for 20 days. She has no other UK links. Is she UK resident, and what follows for reporting?

Show the solution

Anna was not resident in the previous three tax years, so she is an arriver.
Automatic overseas test 2 asks for fewer than 46 days. 60 days is not fewer than 46, so it does not apply. Other overseas tests are not indicated.
Automatic UK tests: 60 days is under 183 and nothing else points to a UK home or UK full-time work, so none applies.
Sufficient ties: 60 days falls in the 46 to 90 band, where an arriver needs 4 ties (Table 6).
Ties: family and accommodation count. Work does not, as 20 days is under 40. The question gives no information suggesting more than 90 days in the UK in either of the previous two tax years, and she has never lived here, so the 90-day tie is not met. The country tie is not available to an arriver. That is 2 ties.
2 ties is fewer than 4, so she is not resident.

Answer: Anna is not UK resident. She is taxed mainly on UK-source income. Any UK income tax liability on UK income still needs to be reported, so if she is chargeable and no return has been issued, she should notify HMRC by 5 October after the tax year (verify the deadline in your study text).

Exam tips

Always write the order of the test in your answer. Name each automatic test you rule out in a short phrase.
Decide leaver or arriver first and say which table row you use. Markers look for this.
For a scenario with facts about work, homes and family, tick each tie off one by one and give a reason for each.
Link the conclusion to the practical step: notifying chargeability, the return and the penalty risk, using the dates in the question.
If the question mentions part-year presence, say split year may be relevant and keep your answer tied to the facts given.

Practice questions from Statutory obligations, time limits and the implications of non-compliance

Statutory Residence Test and Reporting Implications: frequently asked questions

What is the difference between the automatic overseas test and the sufficient ties test?

The automatic overseas tests give a definite answer of not resident if one is met, based mainly on days in the UK and full-time overseas work. The sufficient ties test is used only when no automatic test applies. It compares days in the UK with the number of UK ties.

How do I tell if someone is a leaver or an arriver?

A leaver was UK resident in one or more of the previous three tax years. An arriver was not resident in any of those years. The table of days and ties is different for each, so decide this first.

How are UK days counted in the statutory residence test?

A day generally counts if the person is in the UK at midnight. There are exceptions, such as transit. In exam questions the number of days is normally given, so apply it to the table.

What must a person report about residence?

The duty to notify HMRC comes from being chargeable to tax, not from residence itself. If chargeable and not sent a return, the person must notify HMRC by 5 October after the tax year. Residence status then affects what is reported on the self assessment return, and wrong residence treatment can lead to penalties and interest.