Residence

The publicity afforded to the recent case of Gaines-Cooper v HMRC (SpC 568) served as a reminder that the practice of ignoring days of arrival and departure, when calculating days of presence in the UK, is only concessionary and has no basis in law. A concession will be withdrawn if used for tax avoidance.

The new style non resident tax return pages (NR1 and NR2) include a new question (9.12) which suggests a tightening of Revenue attitude can be expected by those individuals claiming to be non resident on the basis of satisfying the 90 or 183 day tests, but whom are on the cusp of these thresholds if the strict law is applied.

A hardening of approach by the Revenue will be especially relevant to those internationally mobile workers who have been improperly advised and have planned their work schedules with an undue reliance being made on the concession in order to maximise their working time in the UK. Such workers could expect the veracity of their claims of non residence to be scrutinised.