Leaving the UK

What is split-year treatment?

Answered by Jordan Onraet-Wells, Founder & Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA). Published 17 July 2026. Last reviewed 17 July 2026.

The short answer

Split-year treatment is a UK tax rule that divides the tax year of your move into a UK part, taxed as a resident, and an overseas part, taxed broadly as a non-resident, so you are not taxed as UK resident for the whole year. It applies only if you are UK resident for the year under the Statutory Residence Test and your circumstances fit one of eight statutory cases: Cases 1 to 3 for people leaving the UK and Cases 4 to 8 for people arriving. You claim it on the SA109 residence pages of your Self Assessment return; it is not applied automatically.

The UK part is taxed as resident on worldwide income and gains; in the overseas part most foreign income arising falls outside UK tax.
You must be UK resident for the whole year under the SRT before split-year treatment can apply; if the SRT makes you non-resident, there is nothing to split.
Leavers use Cases 1 to 3 (starting full-time work overseas, joining a partner who does, or ceasing to have any UK home); arrivers use Cases 4 to 8.
If more than one case fits, statutory priority rules fix which case applies and the exact split date; you cannot choose the most favourable.
Some income, including UK rent and UK employment earnings for UK duties, stays UK-taxable in both parts of the year.
You claim it on the SA109; HMRC's free online filing service does not support this form, so you need commercial software or an agent.

How the year is split

The Statutory Residence Test looks at the whole tax year and gives one answer: resident or not. Split-year treatment does not change that answer; it takes a year in which you are resident and divides it at a date fixed by whichever statutory case you meet, for example the day you start full-time work overseas (Case 1) or the day you cease to have any UK home (Case 3). There is also a prior-year condition: the leaver cases require UK residence in the previous tax year, the arriver cases require non-residence in it. Our split-year treatment guide sets out each case's full conditions and split dates.

The common trap

Leaving the UK part way through the year does not automatically end your UK tax exposure. If none of the eight cases fits your facts, you are taxed as a UK resident on worldwide income and gains for the entire 2026/27 year. And even where a case applies, UK-source income such as rent from a let UK property remains taxable in both parts of the year, while the temporary non-residence rules can claw back certain income and gains if your non-residence lasts five years or fewer before you return.

What to do

Confirm your SRT position for 2026/27 first, then check the case conditions against your actual travel dates, work pattern and homes, because each case has detailed day-count and home tests that must all be met. Claim by completing the SA109 residence pages with your Self Assessment return, stating the case relied on and the split date; the online deadline for 2026/27 is 31 January 2028. Keep evidence of flights, contracts and home arrangements, as HMRC can ask you to substantiate the case you have claimed.

Go deeper

Sources and further reading

This is general information for the 2026/27 UK tax year, not personal tax advice; speak to a Chartered Tax Adviser about your own position.

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