BUZZ ACCOUNTINGDoes split-year treatment apply to you?
In the year you move, split-year treatment divides the tax year in two — and it is claimed on the return, not granted automatically. This points at the likely case.
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Tell us which way you moved
This is claimed on the return, not granted automatically
In the year you move it is usually the most valuable thing on the return — and it only happens if somebody puts the case number and the date on the residence pages. Miss it and the whole year is taxed on one basis.
What split-year treatment does
UK residence is decided for a whole tax year at a time: you are either resident for all of 6 April to 5 April, or none of it. Split-year treatment is the exception. Where it applies, the year divides into a UK part and an overseas part, and you are taxed as a non-resident for the overseas part — so foreign income and gains arising after you leave fall outside UK tax altogether.
In the year somebody emigrates, this is very often the single most valuable thing on the return. It is also claimed, not granted: it goes on the residence pages, with the case number and the date, and HMRC does not apply it for you.
The eight cases
There are three cases for people leaving and five for people arriving. The checker above points at the likely one; these are what they mean.
Leaving the UK
- Case 1 — starting full-time work overseas. The cleanest and most common. The year splits when the overseas employment starts, subject to limits on UK days and UK workdays after that.
- Case 2 — partner of someone in Case 1. You join a spouse or partner who qualifies under Case 1, and your split follows theirs.
- Case 3 — ceasing to have a UK home. For people who leave without a job to go to. Harder to evidence: HMRC will want to see the UK home genuinely went, and that you established a sufficient link with your new country within six months.
Arriving in the UK
- Case 4 — starting to have a UK home.
- Case 5 — starting full-time work in the UK.
- Case 6 — ceasing full-time work overseas. Usually gives the earliest split date.
- Case 7 — partner of someone in Case 6.
- Case 8 — starting to have a UK home, where you had no UK home at all earlier in the year.
More than one can apply. The legislation sets a priority order, and the case that produces the earliest split date usually wins — but "usually" is doing real work in that sentence, and it is worth having checked rather than assumed.
What it does not do
Split-year treatment does not touch UK-source income. Rent from a UK property, UK employment income for UK duties and gains on UK land stay taxable here whichever part of the year they fall in. It also has no effect on the Statutory Residence Test itself — you have to be non-resident for the following year for most of the leaving cases to work at all, which is why the day count and the split year have to be planned together rather than one after the other.
Getting the leaving year right is what the £249 departure review covers, and the fee is credited against your first year's return.
Asked about this constantly
Is split-year treatment automatic?
No. It is claimed on the residence pages of your return, with the case number and the date. HMRC does not apply it for you.
Can more than one case apply?
Yes, and the legislation sets a priority order. The earliest qualifying split date usually wins, but that is worth checking rather than assuming.
Does it stop UK tax on my rent?
No. UK-source income — rent, UK employment for UK duties, gains on UK land — stays taxable here whichever part of the year it falls in.
What if no case applies?
Then the whole tax year is taxed on one basis, and the date you flew matters much less than people expect. That is a perfectly normal outcome and worth knowing early.
Everything else you can work out here
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Tick your ties and see how many days you can spend in the UK this tax year before the ties test makes you resident.
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