Coming or going - available accommodation

The availability, or otherwise, of accommodation in the UK is relevant to an individual's residency status.

Available accommodation is given its ordinary meaning and includes living accommodation owned or rented by the individual, or spouse, or merely available for use by the individual under an informal arrangement with a family member or a third party. Accommodation is not available where it is rented to a third party under a lease, or where the property concerned is unfurnished and not capable of use as residential accommodation. Actual use is not a relevant factor; rather, it is the availability of the accommodation for use by the individual should they so choose.

For those resident and ordinarily individuals leaving the UK, the retention of accomodation available for use in the UK will not automatically prohibit the loss of UK tax residence, but there will be a presumption that the retention of accommodation is contrary to the intention of leaving the UK on a permanent basis. This presumption may be rebutted by the facts of a given individual's circumstances. It will be necessary to show that accommodation of a permanent nature has been acquired abroad and that an emigration is borne out by the individual's actions generally. There should also be one, or more, reasons to explain the retention of the accommodation in the UK, such as the desire to provide accommodation for the use of family or friends.

The availability of accommodation is ignored when determining the residency status of an individual who leaves the UK to take up full time employment, or self employment overseas.

For those individuals coming to the UK, the availability of accommodation is ignored where the purpose of the visit(s) is temporary only (casual) and the time spent physically present in the UK is less than 183 days in the tax year concerned.

For other visitors, displaying a more permanent connection with the UK, such as employment, the ownership of accommodation, or the renting of accommodation on a lease of 3 years or more, will be relevant to the determination of individual's residency status.

Whether the individual is coming to, or leaving, the UK, it should not be overlooked that the domestic UK rules for tax residency may be overridden by the tie breaker clause in a double tax treaty between the UK and another country.