Your residence for tax purposes is determined by the statutory residence test (SRT). Following the test can be long-winded, but HMRC has launched an online checking tool that can simplify things. How do you use it?
HMRC’s new “Check your UK residence status” tool can be used to check your tax residence going back to 2016/17. It’s basically an interactive run through of the SRT. It works by asking a series of questions to determine whether you were definitively non-resident, definitively UK-resident, or resident under the tiebreaker test, based on the answers you give. You will need to know the number of days you were in the UK, and potentially provide other information, e.g. how many days you worked full time in the UK in the year you are checking. The tool has helpful dropdown sections providing concise guidance on key terms, e.g. “What could a home be?”.
In related news, HMRC is writing to a number of taxpayers who claimed to have been in the UK due to “exceptional circumstances” during the pandemic. This affects the 2020/21 tax returns, and HMRC has reported seeing a number of errors. If you receive a letter, you will probably be prompted to submit a revised return within 60 days. If you use an accountant or tax advisor, you should contact them immediately.
This article has been reproduced by kind permission of Indicator – FL Memo Ltd. For details of their tax-saving products please visit www.indicator-flm.co.uk or call 01233 653500.