A family that keeps a London house and spends the summer in it is not usually UK tax resident, and the firm says so first. But UK tax residence is a count, not an impression; the thresholds are low for a family with a home, children at school and relatives in London; and crossing them means UK tax on worldwide income and, after ten years, on the worldwide estate. A family near a threshold needs a tax adviser’s count.
Tax
UK tax residence for a family that spends summers in London: the Statutory Residence Test, the day counts and the home test
Why UK tax residence matters for Gulf families summering in London
A Gulf family that keeps its home in the Gulf and spends the summer in its London house is almost never UK tax resident: the summer is 75 to 85 days, and with a London house (an accommodation tie) residence begins at 121 days, or at 91 with a second tie such as a child at a London school. At 183 days residence is automatic. Crossing the line means UK tax on worldwide income at up to 45 per cent after a four-year exemption, and the worldwide estate within 40 per cent inheritance tax after ten years.
A UK tax resident pays UK income tax on worldwide income and capital gains tax on worldwide gains, subject since April 2025 to a four-year regime that exempts foreign income and gains for new arrivals; after ten of the last twenty tax years resident, the whole worldwide estate is within UK inheritance tax at 40 per cent. A non-resident pays UK tax only on UK income (the rent) and UK property gains, and inheritance tax only on UK assets.
For a Gulf family whose wealth is at home and tax-free there, the difference is the whole of its income and estate. Residence is decided tax year by tax year, 6 April to 5 April, by the Statutory Residence Test.
The three steps of the Statutory Residence Test
The test runs in order. First, the automatic overseas tests: if any applies, the person is non-resident and the test ends. Second, the automatic UK tests: if any applies, resident. Third, the sufficient ties test, which combines the number of days in the UK with the number of ties to it.
Where a family spending summers in London sits in the test
A family that spends fewer than 46 days in the UK in a tax year, having not been resident in any of the previous three, is non-resident under the first step and need read no further; a family that spends 183 days or more is resident under the second and need read no further. Most summer families sit between, in the third.
The 183-day rule for UK tax residence
Present in the UK for 183 days or more in a tax year: resident, without exception. A full summer from mid-June to early September is 75 to 85 days; add Easter and the Christmas holiday and a family with children at a London school for part of the year can approach 120. The 183-day figure is also the stamp duty residence test, counted differently (the twelve months before completion rather than the tax year), as our guide on stamp duty refunds explains.
The home test for UK tax residence explained
The second automatic UK test catches owners rather than visitors. A person is resident if, for a period of at least 91 consecutive days (at least 30 of them in the tax year), they have a UK home and are present in it on at least 30 days in the year, and during that period they have no overseas home, or have one but are present in it on fewer than 30 days in the year.
Who the UK home test catches, and who is safe
A Gulf family with a villa in Riyadh in which it lives for most of the year is safe: it has an overseas home and is present in it far more than 30 days. The family at risk is the one that has sold the Gulf home, or lives in hotels or with relatives, and whose only home is the London house; thirty nights in it make them resident. The test is about homes, not ownership: a rented flat in Dubai counts as an overseas home.
The sufficient ties test and the four ties for arrivers
For a person who was not UK resident in any of the previous three tax years (an “arriver”, which most Gulf families are), the sufficient ties test uses four ties: a family tie (a spouse, partner or minor child who is UK resident); an accommodation tie (a place to live in the UK available for 91 or more days in the year, used for at least one night, which a London house is); a work tie (40 or more days with more than three hours’ work in the UK); and a 90-day tie (90 or more days in the UK in either of the previous two tax years).
UK days and ties table for an arriver
| UK days in the tax year (arriver) | Resident if |
|---|---|
| Fewer than 46 | Never (automatic overseas test) |
| 46 to 90 | All four ties |
| 91 to 120 | Three or more ties |
| 121 to 182 | Two or more ties |
| 183 or more | Always |
Source: HMRC Statutory Residence Test guidance RDR3 (GOV.UK), checked 14 October 2026.
A summer family with a London house has the accommodation tie from the first year. If it spent 90 days or more in the UK last year, it has the 90-day tie too. With two ties, the family is resident from 121 days; with three (a child at a London school, resident in their own right, adds the family tie), from 91 days.
The summer alone, at 75 to 85 days, stays under 91; the summer plus the Easter and Christmas holidays does not. For a person who was resident in one of the previous three years (a “leaver”), the bands are tighter and a fifth tie, the country tie, is added.
How to count days in the UK for tax residence
A day counts if the person is in the UK at midnight at the end of it; a day of arrival counts, a day of departure does not. Transit days, arriving and leaving without doing anything unrelated to the journey, do not count. Exceptional circumstances (illness, a closed airport) can be discounted up to 60 days.
The deeming rule and the evidence HMRC uses to check days
A deeming rule adds days for a leaver with three or more ties who has 30 or more days in the UK without being present at midnight. The count is the family’s own, and HMRC’s evidence is passports, the Electronic Travel Authorisation records and the airlines; a diary kept from the first day of the tax year is the only practical defence.
What UK tax residence costs: income tax and capital gains tax
A family resident for the first time since April 2025 can claim the four-year foreign income and gains regime: no UK tax on foreign income and gains for four tax years, if non-resident for the ten before; after that, worldwide income at up to 45 per cent and gains at up to 24 per cent. UK-source income, the London rent, is taxed in either case.
Inheritance tax on the worldwide estate after ten years of residence
Inheritance tax follows the long-term residence test: resident for ten of the last twenty tax years brings the whole worldwide estate within the 40 per cent charge, with a tail of three to ten years after leaving. For a family with a business and a portfolio at home, four years of residence may be bearable; ten is a different family.
Rule of thumb for staying non-resident on London summers
Keep the Gulf home and live in it. Keep UK days under 90 in every tax year, counted at midnight and recorded. If a child is at school in London and resident in their own right, keep the parents’ UK days under 90 with particular care, because the family tie then exists.
Do not sell the Gulf home and move into the London house “for a year” without a tax adviser’s plan, because the home test and the ties test will both bite, and the four-year clock starts. And remember that the stamp duty refund in our refunds guide requires 183 UK days, which is also the day on which tax residence begins; a family cannot have one without the other.
Sources: Statutory Residence Test guidance RDR3 (GOV.UK) · Tax on foreign income: residence (GOV.UK) · Foreign income and gains regime from 6 April 2025 (GOV.UK) · Inheritance tax: long-term UK residence (GOV.UK). Checked against HMRC’s Statutory Residence Test guidance (RDR3) and the foreign income and gains regime and long-term residence rules on GOV.UK on 14 October 2026. Day counts and ties are illustrative for a typical family and are not advice; residence is a calculation for a tax adviser on the family’s own days and circumstances. Figures verified 14 October 2026.
Frequently Asked
Questions about UK tax residence and London summers
Almost never, if you keep your Gulf home and spend fewer than 91 days in the UK; the summer is about 80. Count the days, including arrival days, and keep a record.
Not by itself; it gives you a family tie, so that with the accommodation tie you are resident from 121 days, or from 91 if you also had 90 days in either of the last two years. Keep your own days under 91.
Not for the first four years under the foreign income and gains regime, if you were non-resident for the ten years before; from the fifth year, yes, at UK rates, subject to any relief under the UK-Saudi treaty.
For an arriver, someone not resident in any of the previous three tax years: fewer than 46 days, never; 46 to 90 days, only with all four ties; 91 to 120 days, with three or more ties; 121 to 182 days, with two or more; 183 days or more, always. A family with a London house already has the accommodation tie, so for most summer families the practical line is 120 days, or 90 if a second tie exists.
A day counts if you are in the UK at midnight at the end of it, so a day of arrival counts and a day of departure does not. Transit days, arriving and leaving without doing anything unrelated to the journey, do not count. Exceptional circumstances such as illness or a closed airport can be discounted up to 60 days. HMRC’s evidence is passports, Electronic Travel Authorisation records and the airlines; a diary kept from the first day of the tax year is the only practical defence.
Not while you keep a home in the Gulf and live in it. The home test makes you resident if, for at least 91 consecutive days, you have a UK home and are present in it on at least 30 days in the year, while having no overseas home or being present in it on fewer than 30 days. A villa in Riyadh you live in for most of the year, or even a rented flat in Dubai, is an overseas home and keeps you safe.
A family tie (a spouse, partner or minor child who is UK resident); an accommodation tie (a place to live in the UK available for 91 or more days and used for at least one night, which a London house is); a work tie (40 or more days with more than three hours’ work in the UK); and a 90-day tie (90 or more days in the UK in either of the previous two tax years). A leaver, resident in one of the previous three years, has a fifth tie, the country tie, and tighter bands.
A first-time resident since April 2025 can claim the four-year foreign income and gains regime, with no UK tax on foreign income and gains for four tax years if non-resident for the ten before; after that, worldwide income at up to 45 per cent and gains at up to 24 per cent. The London rent is taxed either way. After ten of the last twenty tax years resident, the whole worldwide estate is within inheritance tax at 40 per cent, with a tail of three to ten years after leaving.
No. The refund requires 183 UK days, counted over the twelve months around completion rather than the tax year, and 183 days in a tax year is also the point at which tax residence becomes automatic. A family cannot have one without the other, as our guide on stamp duty explains.
Not without a tax adviser’s plan. With no overseas home, thirty nights in the London house can make you resident under the home test, the ties test will bite as the days build, and the four-year clock on the foreign income and gains regime starts. The firm’s rule of thumb is to keep the Gulf home, live in it, and keep UK days under 90 in every tax year.
