UK Tax When Moving From the UK to Ireland

Usually no, but only if your UK days and ties are low enough under the Statutory Residence Test (SRT). The SRT, set out in HMRC guidance note RDR3, is the only test that matters; the Common Travel Area lets you move freely between the UK and Ireland but has no bearing on tax residence. You can lose UK residence while still spending meaningful time in the UK, or accidentally keep it by visiting too often.

The SRT works in three stages, applied in order. First the automatic overseas tests, which can confirm you are non-resident (for example, if you spend fewer than 16 days in the UK in the tax year, or work full-time abroad within the detailed conditions). If none of those apply, the automatic UK tests can make you resident (for example, spending 183 days or more in the UK). If neither set is conclusive, the sufficient ties test weighs your UK days against connecting factors such as family, available accommodation, UK work and time spent here in earlier years.

Day-counting is on a midnight basis: a day generally counts if you are in the UK at the end of it, so you are effectively counting nights. The more ties you keep, the fewer days it takes to be resident. Someone with four UK ties can become UK resident on as few as 16 days in the year, which is easy to breach with regular short trips back from Dublin. Use the SRT calculator and confirm the position before you assume you are non-resident.

Split-year treatment can divide the tax year in which you move into a UK part and an overseas part, so that income arising after you leave is generally outside UK tax even though you were UK resident for part of the year. Without it, UK residence applies to the whole tax year, which would drag your post-move foreign income into UK tax.

Split-year treatment is not automatic and is not a free choice. You must fall within one of the specific SRT cases, such as starting full-time work overseas or ceasing to have a home in the UK while taking up residence abroad. The case you rely on fixes the date the overseas part begins, which is the date from which your foreign income drops out of UK tax. You claim it on the residence pages of your Self Assessment return (SA109).

Two points catch people out. First, split-year treatment changes when your foreign income is taxed, not whether UK-source income (rent, UK workdays, certain pensions) remains taxable; those continue under their own rules. Second, the qualifying conditions are technical, so the date you physically move and the date your overseas part begins for tax can differ. Confirm which case applies before you rely on it.

If you leave the UK, realise gains or certain income while abroad, then return within a short window, the temporary non-residence rules can tax those amounts in the year you come back. The rule is designed to stop people taking a brief tax break abroad to crystallise gains free of UK tax.

It applies where both conditions are met: you were UK resident in at least 4 of the 7 tax years immediately before the year you left, and your period of non-residence is 5 years or less. If it bites, gains (and some income, such as certain distributions and pension-related amounts) that arose during your absence are charged to UK tax in the tax year you resume UK residence.

To escape the rule you must be non-resident for more than 5 years. In practice that means being non-resident for at least 5 full tax years plus split-year treatment in the year of departure, or a clean 6 full tax years of non-residence. Because the UK and Ireland are so close, returning is easy, so this rule is a real risk for short Irish moves. If you may sell assets with large gains, plan the timing of any disposal and your return date carefully.

Leaving the UK does not switch off UK tax on UK-source items. The UK keeps taxing rights over income and gains with a UK source, subject to the UK-Ireland double tax treaty, which is the instrument that allocates taxing rights between the two countries. The table below summarises the common items.

How your UK pension is taxed after the move depends on the type of pension and the UK-Ireland double tax treaty, in force since 1976. As a starting point UK pensions sit within UK taxing rights, but the treaty frequently reallocates them, so do not assume continued UK tax on every pension.

• Most occupational and private pensions: under the treaty these generally become taxable only in your country of residence, Ireland, and can often be paid gross once the position is in place.
• UK government-service pensions (for example civil service, NHS, armed forces, teachers): these generally stay UK-taxable, unless you are an Irish national or dual national, in which case the position can differ.
• UK State Pension: the treatment depends on the treaty and Irish rules, so confirm this separately.
• Lump sums and transfers: special rules can apply, and the treaty treatment of a lump sum can differ from regular pension payments.

Where a pension is taxable only in Ireland, you may need to make a claim so it is paid without UK deduction and reported correctly in Ireland. Getting the paperwork right avoids double withholding and the need to reclaim later. The exact Irish treatment of each pension is an Ireland-specific point to confirm with a local adviser.

This is an illustration with simplified, round figures to show how the rule works; it is not advice and ignores reliefs and allowances.

Niamh was UK resident for all of the 7 tax years before she left, so she easily meets the 4-of-7 condition. She moves to Dublin on 1 June 2026 and qualifies for split-year treatment, so 2026/27 is split and her overseas part runs from June 2026. In August 2027, while non-resident, she sells UK shares she has held for years and realises a gain of 100,000. Tempted by the proximity, she moves back to the UK and becomes resident again in the 2029/30 tax year.

Her period of non-residence is well under 5 years, so she is temporarily non-resident. The 100,000 gain she realised in 2027 while away is therefore brought back into charge in 2029/30, the year she returns, even though she was non-resident when she sold. At an illustrative 20% rate that is 20,000 of UK CGT that she thought she had avoided.

Had Niamh stayed non-resident for more than 5 years (in her case 5 full tax years plus the split year, or 6 full tax years) and not returned early, the gain would have stayed outside UK CGT. The lesson is to plan both the disposal date and the return date together, because a short Irish move is exactly the scenario this rule targets.

The points below are indicative only, to give context, and must be confirmed with an Irish adviser. They are not a substitute for Irish tax advice, and Ireland's Budget cycle could change them.

The non-domicile remittance basis can be valuable for someone keeping non-Irish income and gains offshore, but how it interacts with your specific assets, the timing of remittances and Irish reporting all need local advice. We do not quote Irish rates or thresholds here because they should be confirmed at the point of your move.

Getting the UK admin right before you leave avoids over-withholding, missed deadlines and lost reliefs. Work through these and take advice on the technical points.

• Run the Statutory Residence Test for the year of departure and the following year, and keep a day-count log of UK presence and ties.
• Confirm whether you qualify for split-year treatment and which SRT case applies, fixing the date your overseas part begins.
• Tell HMRC you are leaving: file form P85 if you are not in Self Assessment, or report departure on your return and complete the residence pages (SA109).
• If you are keeping a UK let property, register under the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme and apply for gross payment with form NRL1.
• Map out any planned asset disposals against the 5-year temporary non-residence rule and your likely return date.
• Review your UK pensions and decide whether to draw them under the treaty or consider a QROPS transfer (and the 25% Overseas Transfer Charge) before moving money.
• Plan UK property sales around the 60-day reporting and payment deadline and gather cost and valuation evidence.
• Line up an Irish adviser to confirm Irish residence, the remittance basis and how your income and pensions are taxed in Ireland.