The deeming rule for UK days under the SRT

Under the statutory residence test a day normally counts as a UK day only if you are in the UK at midnight. The deeming rule in paragraph 23 of Schedule 45 to the Finance Act 2013 changes that for people who were UK resident in at least one of the previous three tax years, have at least three UK ties and are in the UK on more than 30 days without staying to midnight: every such day after the 30th is treated as a UK day.

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How are UK days normally counted?

Paragraph 22(1) says that if you are present in the UK at the end of a day, that day counts as a day spent in the UK. Paragraph 23(1) says the reverse: if you are not here at the end of the day, it does not count. Two adjustments take days out of the midnight count: transit days, where you arrive as a passenger, leave the next day and do nothing substantially unrelated to the journey, and days spent here because of exceptional circumstances, capped at 60 a year. The deeming rule works the other way and adds days in.

The rule exists because the midnight test on its own would let someone with strong UK connections spend a large amount of time here through day trips, such as flying in for meetings and out again in the evening, without any of those days counting. HMRC’s guidance is at RFIG20720 in the Residence and FIG Regime Manual.

When does the deeming rule apply?

Paragraph 23(3) sets three conditions, all of which must be met for the tax year:

you have at least three UK ties for the year
you have more than 30 days in the year on which you are in the UK at some point but not at the end of the day; the legislation calls these qualifying days
you were UK resident for at least one of the three tax years before that year

If all three are met, paragraph 23(4) says that once you reach 30 qualifying days, counting forward from 6 April, each later qualifying day is treated as a day spent in the UK. The first 30 never count. HMRC’s guidance confirms you then add the excess qualifying days to your midnight days to get your total.

Because the rule only applies to people who were resident in at least one of the previous three years, it never affects someone arriving in the UK for the first time or after a long absence. Those people are judged on midnights alone, and the second automatic overseas test (fewer than 46 days) cannot be affected by it.

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How do you count the three UK ties?

The ties are the same as in the sufficient ties test: a family tie, an accommodation tie, a work tie, a 90 day tie and, for anyone resident in one of the previous three years, a country tie. Since the deeming rule only applies to that group, all five types are relevant. The work tie depends on days with more than three hours of UK work, whether or not you stay to midnight, so frequent business day trips can create both the work tie and the qualifying days. A spouse or partner who is UK resident gives a family tie.

The circularity rule for the 90 day tie

The 90 day tie looks at whether you spent more than 90 days in the UK in either of the two previous tax years. Paragraph 23(5) says that when you are deciding whether you have three ties for the deeming rule, qualifying days above 30 are not treated as UK days in working out the 90 day tie. HMRC’s example at RFIG20720 has a man with 80 midnights and 45 day visits in one year and 70 midnights and 39 day visits in the year before. Counting midnights only, he has no 90 day tie, so he has only two ties, the deeming rule does not apply, and with 85 midnights and two ties he is not resident.

Which parts of the SRT does it affect?

Once the rule applies, deemed days count as days spent in the UK for the SRT day counts generally, including the sufficient ties tables. There are specific exceptions:

Full time work abroad. The limit of fewer than 91 UK days in the third automatic overseas test ignores deemed days (paragraph 14(2)).
Split year cases. The day limits in split year Cases 1, 2, 6 and 7 exclude qualifying days under the deeming rule (RFIG22220).
Country tie. This is a midnight test, comparing where you were present at midnight on the most days (RFIG22230).

Exceptional circumstances cannot be used to reduce the deeming rule count (RFIG22230). That follows from the rule itself: exceptional days are midnights you could not avoid, while qualifying days are days on which you did leave before midnight.

Transit days

HMRC’s guidance at RFIG20730 notes that where your arrival day is ignored as a transit day, the following day, when you leave, may still be a qualifying day for the deeming rule.

What does a worked example look like?

Illustration only. Helen was UK resident until 2025 to 2026, when she moved to Brussels. In 2026 to 2027 her husband stays in their London flat and is UK resident, so she has a family tie and, staying there on visits, an accommodation tie. She also works more than three hours in London on 45 days, which gives her a work tie. She spends 40 nights in the UK and makes 55 further day trips, travelling home the same evening.

Item	Days
Midnights in the UK	40
Qualifying days (day trips)	55
Qualifying days ignored (the first 30)	30
Deemed UK days	25
Total UK days	65

Without the rule she would have 40 days, and as a leaver with 16 to 45 days she would need four ties, so she would be non resident with three. With the rule she has 65 days, which needs three ties, and she is UK resident. If she cut her day trips to 30 or fewer, no days would be deemed and she would stay non resident on the same ties.

What mistakes do people make?

Counting only midnights when the three conditions are met. Day trips are where many leavers come unstuck.
Forgetting that the threshold is more than 30 qualifying days, and that the first 30 never count.
Using deemed days to create the 90 day tie that then triggers the rule, which paragraph 23(5) prevents.
Applying deemed days to the 91 day limit in the full time work abroad test, or to the split year day limits, where they are excluded.
Not keeping records of day visits. RFIG21940 says you should keep travel schedules, booking information, tickets and boarding cards showing where you spent your days and midnights.

For an overview of the whole test, including the ties tables, see our guide to the statutory residence test.

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Reviewed by Christine Anderson, Broker, Solar Protect. Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Part of Accountapedia, the Solar Protect guide to UK tax and accounting. This page is general information, not personalised advice.