The 5 UK TiesExplained

You have left the UK for Dubai, set up your business overseas, and tracked your UK days carefully. But when your accountant asks how many ties you have, are you confident in the answer? The five UK ties in the Statutory Residence Test determine how many days you can spend in the UK before HMRC considers you tax resident. One tie that you have overlooked or miscounted can shift the threshold by 30, 45, or even 75 days.

This guide examines each tie in detail: what triggers it, what does not, the edge cases that catch people out, and practical steps to manage or eliminate each one. If you have already read our main SRT guide, think of this as the companion piece that zooms in on the ties themselves.

How Ties Interact with UK Days: The Threshold Table

The sufficient ties test only applies if you do not meet either of the automatic overseas or automatic UK tests. If you reach this stage, your UK residence status depends on two things: how many ties you have and how many days you spend in the UK.

There are two columns in the threshold table, and which one applies to you depends on whether you were UK resident in any of the three preceding tax years. If you have recently left the UK, you are almost certainly "previously resident," which means the stricter column applies to you.

Read the table from left to right. Find your number of ties, then check the column that applies to you. If your UK day count equals or exceeds the number shown, you are UK resident for that tax year. If it is below, you are non-resident (subject to the automatic tests).

Key point: the "not previously resident" column is more generous because HMRC recognises that newcomers to the UK naturally have fewer ties. If you have been living in the UK for years and have just left, you use the "previously resident" column for at least three tax years after departure.

Tie 1: The Family Tie

You have a family tie if any of the following people are UK resident during the tax year:

• Your spouse or civil partner (unless legally separated by court order or deed of separation)
• Your cohabiting partner (a person you live with as if you were married or in a civil partnership)
• A minor child of yours (under 18 at the start of the tax year)

The definition is broader than many people expect. A cohabiting partner counts, not just a spouse. And "legally separated" means a formal legal step has been taken. Simply living apart because one partner has moved abroad does not break the family tie if you are still married and not formally separated.

The education exemption for children

A minor child does not trigger the family tie if both of the following conditions are met:

1. The child is in the UK solely for full-time education
2. You see the child on fewer than 61 days in the tax year

This exemption exists for parents who send their children to UK boarding schools. If your child is at a UK school and you visit them 60 days or fewer, the child does not count. But if you visit 61 times or more (including half-terms, holidays, and school events), the exemption fails and the family tie is triggered.

Edge cases and traps

• Separated but not divorced: if you and your spouse have separated but have not taken formal legal steps (decree nisi, judicial separation, or deed of separation), the family tie still applies. Informal arrangements are not enough.
• Cohabiting partner: there is no legal registration requirement. If HMRC can demonstrate that you and your partner were living together as a couple (shared home, shared finances, presented as a couple socially), the family tie can be triggered even without marriage.
• Child custody arrangements: if you share custody and your child splits time between the UK and overseas, the child is UK resident if they spend more time in the UK. In that case, the family tie applies unless the education exemption applies.

Tie 2: The Accommodation Tie

The accommodation tie is the most commonly missed of the five ties, and the one that catches the most UK expats by surprise. You have an accommodation tie if:

1. You have a place to live in the UK that is available for a continuous period of 91 or more days during the tax year, AND
2. You spend at least one night there during the tax year

There is a special rule for close relatives' homes: if the accommodation belongs to a close relative (parent, grandparent, sibling, child, or their spouse/civil partner), the tie is only triggered if you spend 16 or more nights there in the tax year, rather than just one night.

What counts as "available accommodation"

The definition is deliberately broad. It includes:

• A property you own, whether or not you are living in it
• A property you rent (even if the tenancy is in someone else's name, if you have the right to use it)
• A room in a relative's home that is available for you to stay in
• A hotel room, if you use the same hotel for 91+ continuous days

Critical edge cases

Tie 3: The Work Tie

You have a work tie if you work in the UK for 40 or more days during the tax year. A UK work day is any day on which you do more than 3 hours of work while physically in the UK.

Both employed and self-employed work count. The test is based on where you are physically present, not who your employer or client is.

What counts as a UK work day

• A client meeting in London lasting 4 hours (over 3 hours, physically in UK = work day)
• Working from a UK co-working space for a day
• Attending a UK industry conference as part of your business
• Doing agency work from your parent's house during a visit (if it exceeds 3 hours)

What does NOT count

• Remote work for a UK employer while physically abroad: if you are in Dubai working for a UK company, it is not a UK work day. The test is about physical location, not employer location
• Checking emails for under 3 hours: brief admin during a social visit does not count, provided you keep it under 3 hours
• Travel time: time spent travelling to the UK is not a work day (unless you do substantive work during the journey while in UK airspace or on UK soil)

Tie 4: The 90-Day Tie

You have a 90-day tie if you spent 90 or more days in the UK in either (or both) of the two preceding tax years.

This tie is unusual because it is based entirely on historical behaviour. You cannot undo it mid-year. If you were living in the UK full-time until recently, you will carry the 90-day tie for a minimum of two complete tax years after departure.

How the look-back works

The test looks at the two tax years immediately before the year in question. For example:

If you left the UK in the middle of 2025/26, you probably spent well over 90 days in the UK that year. That means the 90-day tie is active for 2026/27 and 2027/28 at minimum. It only drops away once both look-back years show fewer than 90 UK days.

Tie 5: The Country Tie

The country tie is the only tie that applies exclusively to leavers. You have a country tie if:

1. You were UK resident in one or more of the three preceding tax years (you are a "leaver"), AND
2. You spend more days in the UK than in any other single country during the tax year

The test compares your UK days against every other individual country, not against all overseas days combined. If you split your time between Dubai and Portugal, the UK is compared separately against Dubai and separately against Portugal.

When the country tie causes problems

The country tie is most dangerous in the year of departure or when you split time across multiple countries. Consider these scenarios:

• You leave the UK on 1 October 2026: you spend roughly 180 days in the UK (6 April to 30 September) and 187 days overseas. But if those 187 overseas days are split between Dubai (100 days) and travel to other countries (87 days across Europe and Asia), the UK (180 days) beats Dubai (100 days) and the country tie is active.
• You spend equal time in the UK and Dubai: if you spend 120 days in each, the UK does not beat Dubai (they are equal), so the country tie is not triggered. The UK must be more than any single other country.
• You are settled in Dubai full-time: if you spend 250+ days in Dubai and fewer than 100 in the UK, the country tie is clearly not active.

Managing Your Ties Proactively: A Practical Checklist

The best time to manage your UK ties is before you leave. Once the tax year has started, some ties (like the 90-day tie) are already locked in. Here is a practical checklist, tie by tie:

Worked Examples: Ties in Practice

Three hypothetical scenarios that illustrate how ties interact with UK days to determine residence status. All assume the individual was previously UK resident.

Scenario A: Non-resident with 2 ties

Now let us change the scenario slightly.

Scenario B: Unexpectedly resident with 3 ties

Beth was just 4 days over the threshold. Had she known the threshold was 46 days (not the commonly assumed 90 or 183), she could have limited her visits. Or she could have eliminated a tie.

Scenario C: Fixing the problem by removing a tie

Which Ties Should You Prioritise Removing?

Not all ties are equally easy to manage. Here is a practical hierarchy from easiest to hardest to remove:

Common Misconceptions About UK Ties

Frequently Asked Questions