Statutory Residence Test when moving abroad to Argentina

A flight to Argentina does not set the date on which UK tax residence ends. The Statutory Residence Test (SRT) gives a result for each UK tax year, 6 April to 5 April, using UK days, work and ties. If you were UK resident in any of the previous three tax years, fewer than 16 UK days in the current year can establish automatic non-residence. Longer visits may still be compatible with non-residence, but the answer depends on the remaining tests and, in the departure year, possible split-year treatment.

Begin with the year, then count the days

The SRT tests individuals, so partners moving together can reach different results. It decides UK domestic tax residence, rather than Argentine immigration or tax status. Someone may be resident under both countries' domestic rules, in which case the UK–Argentina treaty has separate tie-breaker and relief provisions. Argentine tax residency needs its own assessment.

A London departure on 20 September 2026 falls in the UK tax year 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027; 1 January does not reset the count. The ordinary UK-day rule asks whether you were in the UK at midnight at the end of the day. A same-day Heathrow connection normally creates no UK midnight. UK workdays use another measure: working more than three hours in Britain generally counts as a UK workday even when the night is spent abroad.

A record for each 6 April–5 April year should show departure and arrival dates, UK midnights, the country of other midnights, UK workdays and where homes were available. Flight confirmations, passport stamps where available, calendars, employer records, leases and family-location evidence support those entries. Two narrow day-count exceptions deserve particular care. A deeming rule can count qualifying non-midnight UK visits beyond the first 30 if you were UK resident in at least one of the previous three tax years and have at least three UK ties, but it does not apply to the overseas-work test’s UK-day limit. Separately, exceptional circumstances beyond your control may exclude at most 60 qualifying days under strict conditions. Ordinary travel plans should use the standard count.

Which automatic test answers first

Apply automatic overseas tests first. If none applies, turn to automatic UK tests. The sufficient ties test comes last, only when neither group supplies a result. A permanent move part-way through the year may fail a whole-year overseas test even though the following year passes it. HMRC's RDR3 guidance gives the full statutory definitions behind these thresholds.

For overseas work, a 35-hour contract is not evidence that those hours were actually worked abroad. The test has further rules for relevant jobs, disregarded days and significant breaks. UK-home and UK-work tests also have detailed definitions: the availability and use of both UK and overseas homes matter more than property ownership alone.

When UK ties decide the result

Someone resident in at least one of the preceding three UK years uses the leaver thresholds. After three consecutive non-resident years, the arriver thresholds apply on a later visit. The ties count kinds of connection, rather than the number of people or properties in Britain.

• Family: a UK-resident spouse, civil partner or qualifying partner, or a qualifying minor child; special rules include limited visits to children.
• Accommodation: accommodation available for at least 91 consecutive days, usually with one night spent there in the tax year; at a close relative's home the stay is normally 16 nights. A let property unavailable to you differs from an accessible spare room.
• Work: 40 or more UK workdays, each with over three hours' work. A meeting before a flight can qualify without a UK midnight.
• 90-day: more than 90 UK days in either of the previous two tax years. Exactly 90 does not create this tie.
• Country, for leavers only: the UK has the greatest number of midnights compared with each other country individually. Equal highest totals do create this tie if one of the countries is the UK; Argentina and a third country are counted separately.

Once the ties are counted, the day band supplies the threshold. The table assumes no automatic test has already resolved the year.

For a leaver with two ties, 90 UK days falls short of the three ties needed in the 46–90 band; 91 UK days needs only two. Keeping a Manchester home available while a partner remains there can create accommodation and family ties despite spending most nights in Buenos Aires. No day limit works independently of the automatic tests and ties.

A departure in September, then return visits

Consider a couple leaving Bristol for Buenos Aires on 20 September 2026, both resident in the preceding three UK years. One works for a UK company and, with the employer's agreement, moves the work to Argentina; the other does not work. They give up their UK home, have parents in Britain and return for visits. In 2026/27, roughly five and a half months were spent in Bristol before departure. The fewer-than-16-days route cannot make either partner non-resident for that whole year, and overseas work beginning in September does not meet the ordinary whole-year full-time overseas-work test. The normal tests must establish the year-end residence answer before split-year treatment is considered.

In 2027/28, suppose the worker has 52 UK midnights, made up of 20 in spring, 16 in summer and 16 at Christmas. More than 90 days in the UK in 2025/26 gives the 90-day tie. Assume hotel visits, no UK-resident family tie, no UK workdays and many more Argentine than UK nights: that is one tie. At 46–90 UK days, a leaver needs three ties for residence, so this partner is non-resident under sufficient ties if no automatic test changes the outcome. A spring stay of 16 nights at a parent's available home would normally add an accommodation tie, but two remains below that band's threshold.

Change the worker's travel to 92 UK midnights and keep the 16 nights at the parent's home. The 90-day and accommodation ties now reach the two required in the 91–120-day leaver band. If they work full-time abroad throughout 2027/28, 92 UK days also fails the overseas-work test's fewer-than-91 condition. At 90 UK days, that automatic route might be available if the hours, breaks and UK-workdays satisfy its other conditions. The non-working partner who stays in Argentina during these visits has a different UK-day count and must be tested separately; if one spouse stays UK resident after the other moves, a family tie may affect the mover.

Why departure-year residence can be split

The SRT normally produces one residence result for the whole UK tax year. Split-year treatment can divide a qualifying resident departure year into a UK part and an overseas part for income tax and capital gains purposes. Each statutory departure case has conditions and its own start date; some depend on the following year's residence result. The flight date alone does not set the split.

Three departure cases are particularly relevant. Case 1, starting full-time work overseas, examines hours, UK days and UK workdays after departure, with the next year generally needing non-residence under the relevant overseas-work test. Case 2 covers accompanying a partner who qualifies under that overseas-work case, subject to its own requirements. Case 3 concerns ceasing to have any UK home while establishing an overseas home, alongside UK-visit limits and further conditions. A usable UK flat or a short Buenos Aires rental can affect the home case; RDR3 and the residence pages set out the exact requirements and dates.

For the Bristol couple, giving up the home on 20 September and establishing an Argentine home makes case 3 a question to test. If the working partner starts full-time work abroad, case 1 may also be relevant. The applicable split date depends on the case actually met, not the date yielding the lowest tax. Until the conditions are established, 2026/27's split is unproven.

Reporting the result and planning the next year

A departure-year record is strongest when it shows when the UK home stopped being available, backed by sale completion or tenancy papers where relevant, and when overseas work and housing began. The earlier two years of visits and UK work also determine several ties. Each new tax year calls for another SRT calculation, particularly before extended return trips or agreeing to work during a British visit.

P85 tells HMRC about departure and may prompt a PAYE repayment if you do not normally file Self Assessment; P85 and its limits explains that route. A person required to file a return reports the residence position and any split-year claim on SA109 pages. HMRC's basic online Self Assessment service does not support SA109, so the options are a paper return by the applicable paper deadline or compatible software. Keep the calculation identifying the SRT test and any split-year case. The SRT is a residence calculation; use the appropriate HMRC departure or return route to report it.

Non-residents may still owe UK tax on property income or certain UK gains. The Non-Resident Landlord Scheme and NRL1 covers rent; a non-resident sale of UK land or property normally requires a UK property CGT report within 60 days of completion, including many cases with no tax due. ARCA, Argentina's tax authority formerly known as AFIP, assesses Argentine tax under its own rules. Where both countries claim residence, the UK–Argentina double tax treaty may matter. For the wider HMRC departure process, including when P85 must also accompany a return, see UK tax when moving to Argentina.

An Argentine DNI is an identity document rather than an SRT result; Argentina visas for British citizens explains permission to stay. For UK tax, the useful question at the start of each April is how the coming year's visits, homes and work will fit the tests, especially after three non-resident years change a former leaver into an arriver.

Argentine citizenship does not change the test

The Statutory Residence Test looks at days, home, work and ties, not at nationality. That includes a British citizen who later becomes Argentine; verify any citizenship route separately from the UK residence calculation. Our guide to Argentina citizenship by investment for UK citizens sets out the costs, the dual-nationality position and questions to put to your tax adviser.