RDRM22300 | Domicile: Categories of domicile: Domicile of choice

From 6 April 2025, the concept of domicile as a relevant connecting factor in the tax system has been replaced by a system based on tax residence. This guidance remains for reference purposes only.

Acquisition of domicile of choice

A domicile of choice is an inference that the law makes from the facts. A domicile of choice can only be acquired where an individual is both:

• resident within a territory subject to a distinctive legal system or ‘municipal law’ (refer to RDRM22310)

• intends to reside there indefinitely (refer to RDRM22320)

The intention required is not an irrevocable one.

Acquisition of a domicile of choice requires the concurrence of residence and intention, although either may exist independently prior to the other.

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Loss of domicile of choice

Loss of a domicile of choice requires cessation of both residence and intention.

The laws of the UK employ the doctrine of the revival of the domicile of origin in situations where a domicile of choice has been abandoned without the acquisition of another domicile of choice.

Other countries do not use this approach, preferring to treat a domicile of choice as continuing until displaced by a new one.