Tax residency in United Kingdom: the 183-day rule
High confidenceReviewed in September 2026
The short answer
183days in tax year, from 6 april
- Window
- Tax year, from 6 April
- How it counts
- Only where you are at midnight
- Direction
- Reaching the threshold makes you resident
How the days are counted
183 midnights in the British tax year, 6 April to 5 April, make you resident with no further questions. What counts is where you are at midnight: the night you arrive counts, the day you leave does not. But 183 is only the first door of the Statutory Residence Test: 16, 46, 91 or 121 nights can also make you resident depending on how many ties you have to the UK, so staying under 183 is not enough to be out.