# Leaving the UK: Tax on Departure > Legal guide to leaving UK tax residence, P85, SA109, split year, temporary non-residence, UK property and IHT tail risk. Author: Мария Плотникова — юрист, Family Office (https://wiki.private.law/authors/plotnikova) Last modified: 2026-07-14T09:29:00.000Z Canonical: https://wiki.private.law/en/uk-leaving Topics: investments Jurisdictions: uk Product tags: tax-regime, wealth-planning Semantic tags: tax-regime, wealth-planning --- ## Concept Leaving the UK is not a US-style expatriation event. There is no citizenship exit tax, nothing equivalent to the American Form 8854, and no charge for simply ceasing to be British. What matters on departure is residence cessation under the Statutory Residence Test, split-year treatment, the temporary non-residence trap, surviving UK-source income, UK property, the position of any trust or company, and the inheritance tax tail. Since 6 April 2025 that last item has changed shape: the UK dropped domicile as the connecting factor for inheritance tax and moved to long-term residence, so the question on the way out is how many of the previous twenty tax years a person spent UK resident, not where a permanent home is argued to be. This is general legal information, not individual tax advice. UK residence, treaty position, trust attribution, company residence and IHT exposure turn on facts and documents. > 🍓 Departure is not effective from the flight date — it is fixed by the Statutory Residence Test and the split-year cases. If you were UK resident in 4 of the 7 tax years before leaving, temporary non-residence can re-tax gains and certain income on a return inside five tax years, and a long-term resident keeps an IHT tail of three to ten years. Plan the departure year, not just the move. ## What leaving does and does not switch off [GOV.UK](http://gov.uk/)'s [guidance on tax when you leave the UK](https://www.gov.uk/tax-right-retire-abroad-return-to-uk) explains that a person leaving permanently, going to work abroad full-time for at least one full tax year, or leaving as a foreign national may need to tell HMRC, normally on form P85 or through Self Assessment. Non-residence usually removes foreign income and gains from UK income tax, but UK-source income and UK property can remain chargeable. P85 is a notification route, not the residence test: residence is decided by the SRT and the facts. ## The departure tests **Residence and split year** The SRT decides whether the person is non-resident for the year. Split-year treatment is not whole-year non-residence — it applies only where a statutory case is met, so an investor leaving mid-year usually needs a split-year analysis rather than a simple non-resident conclusion. **Temporary non-residence** Where the person was UK resident in 4 of the 7 tax years before leaving and returns within five tax years, temporary non-residence rules tax certain income and gains arising during the absence in the year of return — a short trial year abroad rarely works. **UK property and IHT tail** UK land and property stay within UK CGT. A long-term resident — UK resident for 10 of the previous 20 tax years — keeps worldwide IHT exposure for a three-to-ten-year tail after leaving, scaling with how long they were resident. ## UK property after departure A non-resident still pays UK capital gains tax on UK land, and since 2019 that reach covers commercial property and shares in UK property-rich entities, not only homes. GOV.UK's [non-resident property guidance](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/capital-gains-tax-for-non-residents-uk-residential-property) requires the disposal to be reported and any tax paid within 60 days of completion, even where no gain arises; the residential rates for 2025/26 and 2026/27 are 18% and 24%. Inheritance tax runs on a separate axis. UK-situs assets stay within IHT whatever the owner's residence, and a long-term resident, UK resident for at least 10 of the previous 20 tax years, carries worldwide IHT exposure into the tail period after leaving. ## Inheritance tax after the 2025 reform > 🔗 **Related** > [inheritance tax map](https://wiki.private.law/en/inheritance-tax-map) · [domicile, residence and citizenship in suc](https://wiki.private.law/en/domicile-residence-succession) Until April 2025 the inheritance tax net was pinned to domicile, and a non-dom who left could shed deemed-domicile status after enough years abroad. From 6 April 2025 the connecting factor is long-term residence. Anyone UK resident for at least 10 of the last 20 tax years is a long-term resident exposed to IHT on worldwide assets, and the old section 267 deemed-domicile rules were repealed. For someone leaving, the practical question becomes the length of the tail. The tail runs for a minimum of three tax years where the person was resident in 10 to 13 of the last 20 years, and lengthens by one year for each further year of residence, up to a ceiling of ten years. A long-stay resident therefore stays inside the worldwide IHT charge for close to a decade after the move, which is why the inheritance tax position is planned around the residence count rather than the departure date. The inheritance tax map sets the UK charge beside other jurisdictions, and domicile, residence and citizenship in succession explains why domicile still matters for succession even after it stopped governing IHT. > 💡 The FIG regime that replaced the remittance basis from April 2025 is an arrivals rule and does nothing for a leaver, whose exposure is fixed by years of residence. Pre-April-2025 foreign income and gains can still be brought in at a reduced rate under the time-limited Temporary Repatriation Facility. ## Trusts and companies do not move with you > 🔗 **Related** > [holding structures](https://wiki.private.law/en/holding-structures) · [trusts and inheritance tax](https://wiki.private.law/en/trusts-inheritance-tax) Departure changes the individual's residence; it does not automatically change where a company is tax resident or how a trust is taxed. A UK company stays UK resident while its central management and control sits in the UK, so board decisions taken from a London kitchen table keep it onshore wherever it was incorporated. Settlor-interested and UK-resident trusts keep their attribution rules, and the 2025 shift to residence-based IHT changed how excluded-property trusts are tested. Anyone leaving with a holding company or a family trust should work through holding structures and trusts and inheritance tax before assuming the structure left with them. ## Treaty residence and the year you leave > 🔗 **Related** > [Cyprus](https://wiki.private.law/en/cyprus-non-dom) · [flat tax](https://wiki.private.law/en/italy-flat-tax) · [UAE](https://wiki.private.law/en/uae-tax-residency) · [tax residency basics](https://wiki.private.law/en/tax-residency-basics) Becoming non-resident under the SRT is not the same as winning a treaty tie-break. In the year of departure a person can be resident in both the UK and the destination, and the double tax treaty decides which prevails through permanent home, centre of vital interests and habitual abode. A certificate of residence from the new state, a genuine home there and a clean break from UK ties are what hold the treaty position. The destination drives the rest: a non-dom regime such as Cyprus, an Italian-style flat tax or a zero-tax base like the UAE each interacts differently with the UK tail, and the groundwork sits in tax residency basics. ## Common mistakes - Treating departure as effective from the flight date rather than the SRT and split-year cases. - Continuing UK workdays or retaining a UK home and family tie after the supposed departure. - Selling foreign assets during a short absence and being caught by temporary non-residence on return. - Leaving UK company management facts unchanged so central management and control stays in the UK. - Assuming inheritance tax exposure ends on the day of departure. ## Evidence Evidence includes the departure date, P85 or SA109 filings, employment relocation documents, overseas housing, UK home disposal or use, workday records, family movement, treaty residence evidence, certificates of residence, UK property records and the IHT residence year count. ## Advisor trigger A chartered tax adviser can handle a clean departure where the SRT and split-year position are clear. A UK tax solicitor should be involved where there is temporary non-residence exposure, a long-term-resident IHT tail, UK company management, trust benefits, a contested treaty position or a disposal timed around the departure year. ## Q&A ### Does the UK have a citizenship exit tax No. The UK has no US-style citizenship exit tax and no Form 8854 equivalent. But temporary non-residence and the inheritance tax tail can be material after departure. The closest thing to an exit cost is timing, not a charge on leaving. Selling appreciated assets in the departure year or during a short absence, rather than after a clean break, is what creates a UK bill, while surrendering a British passport creates none. The United States and Canada tax unrealised gains on expatriation; the UK reaches only UK-source items and the temporary non-residence and inheritance tax tails. ### Is P85 enough to become non-resident No. P85 is a notification route. Residence is determined by the Statutory Residence Test and the facts, including days, home, work and family ties. In practice the test is applied year by year, so a person can be non-resident one year and resident the next as days and ties shift. HMRC's [RDR3 guidance](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rdr3-statutory-residence-test-srt/guidance-note-for-statutory-residence-test-srt-rdr3) sets out the automatic overseas tests, the automatic UK tests and the sufficient-ties test, in that order. Where departure falls mid-year the SA109 pages and a split-year claim carry the analysis, and contemporaneous records of days, accommodation and workdays are what make it hold up on enquiry. ### Can UK tax continue after departure Yes. UK-source income, UK property gains with 60-day reporting, temporary non-residence claw-back and the long-term-resident IHT tail can all remain relevant. Double tax treaties usually reduce or reallocate the charge on UK-source income: UK rental profits stay taxable here, while dividends or interest may be relieved under the relevant treaty with credit given by the new country. A UK company still controlled from abroad, or a trust you settled, can generate UK charges of their own. Non-residence narrows UK tax to UK-connected items and the tails; it does not switch the UK off. ### Is a trial year abroad worth attempting Rarely. If you were UK resident in 4 of the 7 tax years before leaving, returning within five tax years triggers temporary non-residence and re-taxes gains and certain income arising during the absence. Plan for at least five full UK tax years out. The window is counted in complete tax years and runs from the year after departure, so clearing the five-year rule often means arranging six tax years abroad before a safe return. A real move, with home, family and working life relocated, is also what protects the treaty tie-break and starts the clock on the IHT tail; a token year that keeps the UK house, job and family pattern fails the SRT and the temporary non-residence test at once. > 🧭 Practical takeaway: a clean UK exit is engineered around the residence count and the year of departure, not the flight date. Settle the SRT and split-year analysis, clear the five-year temporary non-residence window, map the three-to-ten-year IHT tail, and fix the treaty tie-break with the new country before any asset is sold or restructured. --- ## FAQ ### Does the UK have a citizenship exit tax No. The UK has no US-style citizenship exit tax and no Form 8854 equivalent. But temporary non-residence and the inheritance tax tail can be material after departure. The closest thing to an exit cost is timing, not a charge on leaving. Selling appreciated assets in the departure year or during a short absence, rather than after a clean break, is what creates a UK bill, while surrendering a British passport creates none. The United States and Canada tax unrealised gains on expatriation; the UK reaches only UK-source items and the temporary non-residence and inheritance tax tails. ### Is P85 enough to become non-resident No. P85 is a notification route. Residence is determined by the Statutory Residence Test and the facts, including days, home, work and family ties. In practice the test is applied year by year, so a person can be non-resident one year and resident the next as days and ties shift. HMRC's RDR3 guidance sets out the automatic overseas tests, the automatic UK tests and the sufficient-ties test, in that order. Where departure falls mid-year the SA109 pages and a split-year claim carry the analysis, and contemporaneous records of days, accommodation and workdays are what make it hold up on enquiry. ### Can UK tax continue after departure Yes. UK-source income, UK property gains with 60-day reporting, temporary non-residence claw-back and the long-term-resident IHT tail can all remain relevant. Double tax treaties usually reduce or reallocate the charge on UK-source income: UK rental profits stay taxable here, while dividends or interest may be relieved under the relevant treaty with credit given by the new country. A UK company still controlled from abroad, or a trust you settled, can generate UK charges of their own. Non-residence narrows UK tax to UK-connected items and the tails; it does not switch the UK off. ### Is a trial year abroad worth attempting Rarely. If you were UK resident in 4 of the 7 tax years before leaving, returning within five tax years triggers temporary non-residence and re-taxes gains and certain income arising during the absence. Plan for at least five full UK tax years out. The window is counted in complete tax years and runs from the year after departure, so clearing the five-year rule often means arranging six tax years abroad before a safe return. A real move, with home, family and working life relocated, is also what protects the treaty tie-break and starts the clock on the IHT tail; a token year that keeps the UK house, job and family pattern fails the SRT and the temporary non-residence test at once. --- ## Factual claims - A non-resident still pays UK capital gains tax on UK land, and since 2019 that reach covers commercial property and shares in UK property-rich entities, not only homes. - Until April 2025 the inheritance tax net was pinned to domicile, and a non-dom who left could shed deemed-domicile status after enough years abroad. - The tail runs for a minimum of three tax years where the person was resident in 10 to 13 of the last 20 years, and lengthens by one year for each further year of residence, up to a ceiling of ten years.