Leaving the UK
Your next chapter starts somewhere else. Make sure the UK lets go too: a plane ticket does not make you non-resident, and the UK has a long memory for your property, your gains and your estate.
| Non-resident | under the statutory residence test, e.g. fewer than 16 days in the UK after residence in one of the 3 previous years |
| Full-time work abroad | fewer than 91 days in the UK, fewer than 31 UK workdays |
| Five-year rule | return within 5 years and certain gains and distributions are taxed after all |
| Inheritance tax | a tail of 3 to 10 tax years after departure, depending on how long you were resident |
| UK property | rents stay taxable in the UK; report a sale within 60 days |
| Updated | November 2026 |
Leaving is a tax event
The day you leave the UK is just one date among many for HMRC. What counts is whether you are still resident in the tax year under the residence test. If you were resident in any of the three previous years, you only become automatically non-resident with fewer than 16 days in the year; if you work full-time abroad, you may spend fewer than 91 days in the UK. The year you leave can be split under conditions, just like the year you arrive. Everything is in our piece on leaving the UK.
Three things do not travel with you. First, your UK property: rents stay taxable in the UK, and a sale must be reported within 60 days even when no tax is due. Second, the five-year rule: leave after four out of seven years of residence and come back within five years, and you pay in the year of return on certain gains and distributions from your time away. Third, inheritance tax: a long-term resident stays inside the UK net with their worldwide estate for 3 to 10 tax years.
Where you go decides the second half
Back to your home country or on to another one: the tax treaty between the UK and your new country decides what the UK may still tax, and how the other side gives relief. The principles are in our piece on the UK's tax treaties. To Malta or Ireland: the UK side is in our article on leaving for Malta or Ireland. To the United States: see the UK and the US. Your new country's own rules on arrival are for an adviser there.
The articles on leaving
Leave cleanly, with no bill waiting when you come back
In the UK Tax Consult we plan your last UK year, the notice to HMRC, your UK property and the inheritance tax tail. By phone, Zoom or Signal.