RFIG22120 | Statutory Residence Test (SRT): supplementary guidance: home and accommodation for SRT purposes: The second automatic UK test and the concept of a 'home'

This guidance is intended primarily to help individuals apply the second automatic UK test, (paragraph 8 of Schedule 45), to establish their UK residence position. However, this guidance applies to the term ‘home’ used throughout the SRT.

As the meaning of ‘home’ can vary according to its context, it is not possible for this guidance to provide an absolute definition of the term. What this guidance does is to give indicators outlining the characteristics that a home will generally have.

There are some general examples of what a home may or may not be. Whether a place is or is not a home will always be dependent on the facts and circumstances of its use by the individual. HMRC may choose to enquire into those facts and circumstances.

For the purpose of the SRT, HMRC consider that a person’s home is a place that a reasonable onlooker with knowledge of the material facts would regard as that person’s home.

The concept of home as described in this guidance relates only to the SRT. The guidance does not apply for the purpose of applying the Residence Article under a double taxation agreement. Double taxation agreements have additional qualifiers that are not included as part of the SRT and so the 2 terms do not have the same meaning.

It is possible to have more than 1 home, either in the same country or in more than 1 country.

The vast majority of individuals will have only one place where they live and this will be their home. If an individual has more than 1 place to live then each of those places may be a home. In this situation, whether or not either place is a home will be determined by the facts.