You are a UK resident taking a holiday or working holiday abroad

For temporary trips abroad, unless you stay outside the UK for the whole of a tax year (6 April to 5 April) with no return visits to the UK, you can expect to be treated as UK resident for the tax years in which you spend any time in the UK. This is due to a concept called ‘ordinary residence’. Ordinary residence takes into account your normal lifestyle when looking at your residence for tax purposes. If you normally live in the UK, then you will need to make a clear break with the UK – like taking a long-term job abroad – in order to become non-resident in the UK for tax purposes.

(The 183 day rule mentioned in the introductory section means that anyone who spends 183 days in the UK is resident in the UK for tax purposes for that tax year, but spending less than 183 days in the UK does not make you non-resident!).

The result of this is that, if you work abroad you will normally be taxable in the UK on those earnings – even if you paid tax abroad when you earned the money. However, you will normally be able to claim relief for tax paid abroad – the overall result being that, if the counties have different tax rates, you suffer tax at the higher of the two rates of tax. This is a complex area and you should take advice if you are in this situation.