Which days count under the UK SRT?
A UK travel ledger is the starting point. See which dates can be excluded, when daytime visits are added, and why the same adjustment does not apply to every SRT test.
Normally a UK day counts at midnight. Confirmed transit and exceptional circumstances can exclude some midnight dates; the deeming rule can add daytime dates. Home tests, workdays and the country tie use their own definitions, so one adjusted total cannot replace every test.
Work through the SRT assessmentStart with midnight dates in the tax year
The relevant year runs from 6 April to 5 April. Arriving on 1 January 2026 and leaving on 10 February gives 40 UK midnights within 2025/26. A same-day arrival and departure normally contributes no midnight date. A home visit or workday may still matter under a different test.
Transit needs all its conditions
A UK midnight can qualify for the transit exclusion on a through ticket between two places outside the UK, arriving and departing the next day as a passenger, without substantial activities unrelated to passage. A stop labelled “transit” on an itinerary is not enough by itself. Keep qualifying transit dates separate from exceptional dates so overlaps are removed once.
Exceptional circumstances: a cap, not an allowance
Suppose 200 physical UK midnights include 30 independently confirmed exceptional dates that qualify for a relevant deduction. The adjusted base is 170. That does not settle residence: automatic home/work tests and sufficient ties may still apply.
HMRC considers circumstances outside the person's control that prevent departure and an intention to leave once possible. The annual maximum that can be ignored is 60, even across several events. Dates beyond the cap remain counted.
Daytime visits can count through the deeming rule
Suppose you were previously UK resident, have three qualifying ties, spend 34 UK midnights and make 53 separate qualifying daytime-only visits. The first 30 daytime visits are not added; the remaining 23 are. Your adjusted total is 57, which can change the sufficient-ties result.
The three-tie check for deeming uses prior-year midnight presence when checking its 90-day tie; prior deemed daytime visits are excluded from that particular lookback. The third automatic overseas test also excludes deemed daytime dates from its UK-presence limit.
Keep these counts separate
| Question | Count to use |
|---|---|
| 183-day test and sufficient ties day bands | Applicable adjusted presence, including deemed dates when the conditions hold |
| Full-time overseas test: UK days | Applicable presence exclusions, without deemed daytime dates |
| UK work tie and UK-workday limit | Actual days with more than 3 hours of work; exceptional dates still count |
| Country tie | Actual midnights; exceptional dates remain in the comparison |
| UK-home test | Qualifying home period and home visits; exceptional presence deductions do not rewrite them |
From adjusted dates to residence
Use the ledger to count raw dates, then the guided assessment for confirmed adjustments, automatic tests, prior residence and ties. Read the ties definitions. Death-year modifications and relevant transport jobs require their separate HMRC rules; the assessment flags them for review.
Official sources & review
- HMRC: midnight presence
- HMRC: transit conditions
- HMRC: the deeming rule
- HMRC: qualifying exceptional circumstances
- HMRC: tests allowing an exceptional-day deduction
- HMRC: tests that keep exceptional dates
- HMRC: ties tables
Checked against the linked official guidance on 5 October 2026. Worked examples are illustrative calculations with stated assumptions. This guide does not determine an individual's tax residency or immigration entitlement.