| Immigration status | visa, ILR, settled status: decided by the Home Office |
| Tax residence | the statutory residence test, year by year |
| Rule of thumb | 183 days or more in the UK in a tax year makes you resident |
| New arrivals | FIG regime for the first 4 years after at least 10 years abroad |
| Inheritance tax | since April 2025 based on long-term residence, 10 of 20 years |
| As of | November 2026 |
Two authorities, two questions
The Home Office asks: may you be here, work here, stay here? The answer is your visa, your indefinite leave to remain or your settled status. HMRC asks: are you UK resident in this tax year? The answer comes from the statutory residence test, afresh for every tax year.
The two questions are not linked. Someone with settled status who has been living back home for years is usually not UK resident. Someone on a visitor's ETA who spends too many days in the UK can become resident without ever having held a work visa. If you are resident, the UK taxes your worldwide income; if you are not, only your UK income.
The statutory residence test in three sentences
Spend 183 days or more in the UK in a tax year and you are resident. Below that, automatic tests for time abroad, a UK home test and a full-time UK work test decide, and finally the so-called ties: family in the UK, available accommodation, work in the UK, days in previous years. The more ties you have, the fewer days it takes.
The detail is on our page on the statutory residence test, and for the year you arrive or leave under split year treatment.
Typical situations
| Situation | Status | UK tax |
|---|---|---|
| UK Expansion Worker, moves to London for 2 years | time-limited visa | almost always resident |
| Settled status, moved back home in 2022 | permanent, as long as no more than 5 years in a row away | usually not resident, UK income only |
| Business traveller with an ETA, many weeks a year in the UK | no right to live or work in the UK | can become resident through days and ties |
| Skilled Worker in year 5, planning ILR | time-limited, soon permanent | resident; ILR changes nothing |
Illustrative examples; in each case the statutory residence test decides
The first four years: the FIG regime
If you move to the UK after at least ten years abroad, you can claim the FIG regime for your first four tax years of residence. Your foreign income and gains are then free of UK tax, whether or not you bring them to the UK. It depends on residence, not on your visa: a Global Talent holder can use it just as well as someone with settled status who returns after ten years away.
For entrepreneurs who come on a work visa through their own company, the interplay matters a great deal. Salary from the UK company is UK income; dividends from your company at home can be foreign income. The order of the move, the visa and the dividends decides the tax.
Inheritance tax: ten years out of twenty
Since 6 April 2025, UK inheritance tax no longer depends on domicile but on long-term residence: if you have been UK resident in 10 of the last 20 tax years, your worldwide estate is in scope. Here too, tax residence counts, not immigration status. Someone who goes home with ILR can stay within UK inheritance tax for years. More under UK inheritance tax.
The home side
Your home country applies its own rules. Most European countries tax on the basis of residence, usually tied to having a home there, your habitual abode or the number of days you spend there. If you keep a home at home, you can be resident in both countries at once. The double tax treaty between the UK and your country then decides, through its tie-breaker rule, which country has the main right to tax you. Check your own country's departure rules before you move, especially if you own a company or substantial shareholdings.
Checklist before you move to the UK
- From which tax year will you be UK resident, and is there a split year in the year you arrive?
- Do you meet the ten years abroad for the FIG regime, and which foreign income do you want it to cover?
- What happens to your home, company and accounts back home, and do you remain fully taxable there?
- Which dividends, sales or gifts should you make before or after the move?
- How long do you plan to stay, with an eye on the ten years for inheritance tax?
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to file a UK tax return because I have settled status?
Only if you are UK resident or have UK income that must be declared. Status on its own triggers no return.
Do I lose my status if I am no longer UK tax resident?
No. You lose status under the Home Office's absence rules, for example after more than five years in a row away with settled status or more than two years with ILR.
Does British citizenship change my tax position?
Not for UK income tax. British citizens abroad are judged by the statutory residence test like everyone else.
Does a two-year visa automatically make me tax resident?
Not the visa itself, but the days almost always will: spend 183 days or more in a tax year in the UK and you are resident there. Whether a split year applies in the year you arrive is a separate question.
Sources: GOV.UK: Check if you can get indefinite leave to remain; GOV.UK: Apply to the EU Settlement Scheme; GOV.UK: Guidance note for the Statutory Residence Test (RDR3); GOV.UK: Check if you can claim the 4-year foreign income and gains regime; GOV.UK: Inheritance Tax if you are a long-term UK resident; GOV.UK: Dual residents (HS302)
