In the Upper Tribunal decision commonly referred to as A Taxpayer v HMRC [2023] UKUT 00182 (TCC), the taxpayer’s UK residence position turned on whether five UK nights could be ignored under the Statutory Residence Test exceptional-circumstances rule.
The short version
- The taxpayer moved from the UK to Ireland on 4 April 2015.
- During the 2015/16 UK tax year, she received approximately £8 million of dividends.
- She filed on the basis that she was not UK tax resident.
- It was common ground that she had been in the UK for 50 nights.
- On her facts, 45 days was the relevant limit. If five extra days counted, she would be UK resident.
- HMRC amended the return on the basis that additional tax of £3,142,550.58 was due.
What went wrong
The taxpayer argued that the additional UK days should be disregarded because she was in the UK due to exceptional circumstances involving her twin sister and the care of minor children. The First-tier Tribunal accepted that argument, but HMRC appealed.
The Upper Tribunal overturned the First-tier Tribunal decision. It held that the relevant exceptional-circumstances test had not been met, so the disputed days could not be ignored. However, the litigation did not end there: in 2025, the Court of Appeal allowed the taxpayer’s appeal and restored the First-tier Tribunal decision. The commercial lesson remains that a small number of disputed days can put a major tax position into years of enquiry and litigation.
Why this matters for internationally mobile families
The lesson is not simply “do not exceed 45 days”. Different SRT thresholds apply depending on residence history and UK ties. The deeper lesson is that every day-count assumption needs to be visible, documented and adviser-reviewable before the tax return is filed.
When the disputed number is small, the financial consequence can still be large. In this case, five days sat between a non-resident filing position and a potential UK-resident outcome with a multi-million-pound HMRC amendment. Even where the taxpayer ultimately succeeds, the cost, delay and uncertainty are exactly what better records are meant to reduce.
Useful search intents
UK tax residence case study, Statutory Residence Test tribunal, HMRC day count dispute, exceptional circumstances SRT, UK residence 45 days tax.
Source note
This article summarises public reporting, the Upper Tribunal decision A Taxpayer v HMRC [2023] UKUT 00182 (TCC), and later reporting on the Court of Appeal decision A Taxpayer v HMRC [2025] EWCA Civ 106. It is not legal or tax advice.