Split-year treatment is the Schedule 45 Part 3 mechanism that prevents a mid-year mover from being taxed as a UK resident for an entire tax year when they were genuinely abroad for half of it. It is the second analytical step after the Statutory Residence Test: SRT decides the whole-year residence status; split-year, if it applies, carves that year into a UK part and an overseas part. The eight cases set out in paragraphs 43 to 52 of Schedule 45 to Finance Act 2013 are the only routes in. There is no general "fairness" override.

This page works through each of the eight cases with the landlord context that the gov.uk and HMRC RDR3 materials do not provide: which case fits which departure or arrival profile, what the split-year date does to non-resident landlord scheme withholding, how a disposal in the overseas part is caught by non-resident CGT under the rewritten section 1A TCGA 1992 regime, and how the priority rules in paragraphs 53 to 55 sequence the cases where more than one could apply. Three anonymised landlord scenarios run through to ground the mechanics in real tax-year arithmetic. The companion page on the 12-month pre-departure checklist sequences the operational tasks; this page handles the residence carve-up itself.

Where split-year sits in the residence analysis

The order matters. Apply the SRT first, end to end, to decide whether you are UK-resident for the whole tax year. Only if the SRT returns "UK resident for the year" and you arrived or left during the year do you reach split-year. If the SRT returns "non-UK-resident for the year", split-year does not arise and the year is wholly non-resident without further analysis.

The practical effect: a landlord who meets the third automatic overseas test (full-time overseas work, the 35-hour week with the 30-UK-workday and 90-UK-day caps) is non-resident for the whole tax year and does not need split-year at all. The same landlord, if they failed one of those caps by a day, would be UK-resident under the SRT and might then rely on Case 1 split-year to get the same operational outcome for the overseas part. Two paths, two regimes, similar end state.

Split-year is also independent of any double tax treaty residence tie-breaker. The treaty Article 4 tie-breaker decides treaty residence; split-year decides UK domestic residence for a part of the year. They can give different answers, and the operational consequences (which country has primary taxing rights over a fragment of income) are decided by both layered together. See the expat property income obligations page for how the layers interact for landlords.

The departure cases: 1, 2, and 3

Departure cases govern the leaving direction. Each has its own anchor event and its own split-year date.

Case 1: starting full-time work overseas

The anchoring event is the start of full-time overseas work. The landlord must:

  • Start full-time work overseas at some point during the tax year.
  • Work full-time overseas (the 35-hour average week, with the no-significant-break and limited-UK-workday limits) for a 365-day period that contains that start date and continues into the following tax year.
  • Be non-UK-resident under the SRT for the following tax year, on the basis of the third automatic overseas test.

The split-year date is the day the overseas work begins. Everything from that date to the end of the tax year is the overseas part, treated as if non-resident. Everything before is the UK part, treated as resident.

Worked example: Hannah, a single landlord with one buy-to-let flat in Sheffield, accepts a Berlin engineering contract that starts on 1 September 2026. She works a 40-hour week in Germany from that date, takes only 8 days of UK workdays in the remainder of the tax year, and spends 22 nights in the UK total. She is SRT-resident for 2026/27 because of her UK ties for the April-to-August period but qualifies for Case 1 split-year from 1 September. UK rental profits from April to August fall into the resident regime; from September to the following 5 April they fall into the non-resident landlord regime. Her German salary in the overseas part is outside UK tax.

Case 2: partner of a Case 1 individual

Case 2 piggybacks on a partner's Case 1. The conditions: the landlord's spouse, civil partner, or cohabiting partner qualifies for Case 1 in the same or the previous tax year; they had a UK home at the start of the year; they cease to have a UK home in the year; and they live together overseas for the rest of the tax year and the following one.

The split-year date for Case 2 is the later of: the partner's Case 1 split date, or the date the Case 2 landlord moved to live with the partner overseas. A spouse who follows three months after the Case 1 mover picks up split-year from the date they began cohabiting abroad, not from the Case 1 contract start.

This matters for landlord couples where one partner has the overseas job and the other has the property portfolio. The portfolio-holding spouse on Case 2 has a later split date, so a larger fragment of the UK rental year is resident and a smaller fragment is non-resident. NRL withholding begins on the Case 2 date for that spouse's share of jointly-owned property.

Case 3: ceasing to have any UK home

Case 3 is the residual departure case for landlords without overseas work to anchor Case 1. The conditions:

  • The landlord had a UK home at the start of the tax year.
  • The landlord ceases to have any UK home during the tax year and continues to have no UK home for the rest of the year.
  • From the date the home ceases to the end of the tax year, the landlord spends fewer than 16 days in the UK.
  • The landlord is non-UK-resident under the SRT for the following tax year.

The split-year date is the date the UK home ceased. A "home" in this context is the SRT concept of home: a place of personal residence with continuity, not any property the landlord happens to own. A let-out former main residence is not a home of the owner; a holiday home retained for personal use is.

The 15-day post-cease cap is the trap. A landlord who sells their UK home, moves abroad, but returns to the UK for a wedding and a fortnight of family visits inside the remaining tax year breaches the 15-day cap and loses Case 3. The fix is to time the home cease later in the tax year (so the post-cease window is short) or to defer the visits to the next tax year.

The arrival cases: 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8

Arrival cases work in mirror. The landlord is non-UK-resident for the previous tax year, UK-resident under the SRT for the current year, and arrives during the year by triggering one of the five conditions.

Case 4: starting to have only a UK home

The arriver had no UK home at the start of the year; at some point in the year they start to have only a UK home (no homes overseas); and they have only a UK home for the rest of the year. The split-year date is the day they started to have only a UK home. This is the cleanest case for a landlord returning to the UK after selling all overseas property and moving back to a UK base.

Case 5: starting full-time work in the UK

Mirrors Case 1 in the arrival direction. The arriver starts full-time UK work that lasts at least 365 days (counted across the tax year boundary), with the same 35-hour week and no-significant-break conditions. The split-year date is the day the UK work begins.

Case 6: ceasing full-time work overseas

Applies where the arriver was non-UK-resident under the third automatic overseas test for the previous tax year, ceases their overseas full-time work during the current tax year, then has at least one UK tie sufficient for SRT residence for the rest of the year. The split-year date is the day overseas work ceases. The most common landlord profile is a Case 1 leaver whose contract ends and who returns to the UK with the same employer or a new one.

Case 7: partner of a Case 6 individual

The arrival mirror of Case 2. The landlord's spouse, civil partner, or cohabiting partner qualifies for Case 6, the landlord moves back to live with them in the UK, and the conditions are met. The split-year date is the later of the partner's Case 6 date and the date the Case 7 landlord moved back.

Case 8: starting to have a UK home

The arriver had no UK home at the start of the year; at some point in the year they start to have a UK home; and they continue to have that UK home for the rest of the year and the following tax year. Unlike Case 4, the arriver may also still have an overseas home. The split-year date is the day they started to have the UK home.

Case 8 is the most common landlord arrival case for returners who buy a UK base while still owning property abroad, or who reactivate their old UK home (taking it back from a tenant) and move into it.

Priority rules where more than one case applies

Schedule 45 Part 3 paragraphs 53 to 55 set the priority order. The framework deals with both intra-direction conflicts (two departure cases, two arrival cases) and the rare mixed-direction year.

Departure direction. Where Case 1 applies, it takes priority over Cases 2 and 3. Where Case 1 does not apply but both Case 2 and Case 3 do, Case 2 takes priority over Case 3. The practical reading is "lowest number wins" for the departure direction.

Arrival direction. The cases are tested in numerical order: Case 4 first, then 5, then 6, then 7, then 8. Where two arrival cases could each provide a different split-year date, the case with the earliest start of the UK part generally wins, with the specific tie-breakers set out in paragraph 54. The interaction between Case 4 and Case 8 catches readers: both are "started to have a UK home" patterns, but Case 4 requires only-a-UK-home while Case 8 allows continued overseas homes too. Case 4 sits earlier in priority because it produces an earlier UK-part start in the typical fact pattern.

Mixed years. A landlord who leaves the UK in May and returns by the following February in the same tax year can have both a departure case and an arrival case operating in the same year. Schedule 45 allows both to apply where each independently meets its conditions, producing a UK-overseas-UK pattern within the one year. Most landlord movers structure their relocation to avoid this because the SA109 reporting requires a three-segment analysis and the foreign income apportionment becomes complex.

Property tax consequences of the split-year boundary

The split-year date is the operational pivot. Everything that follows is the consequence of the date, not a separate decision.

Non-resident landlord scheme. From the start of the overseas part (for departures) or the end of the overseas part (for arrivals), the NRL scheme applies. Letting agents and (where there is no agent) qualifying tenants must withhold 20% basic rate on rent paid to the non-resident landlord unless the landlord holds an NRL1 approval. The transition runs on the calendar quarter: agents work to quarters ending 30 June, 30 September, 31 December, and 31 March. File the NRL1 in advance of the split date so the approval letter arrives in time; otherwise expect one or two quarters of withheld rent to be reclaimed via the SA cycle. See our non-resident landlord scheme guide for the operational detail.

Non-resident capital gains tax. A UK land disposal in the overseas part of a split year falls into the non-resident CGT regime under section 1A TCGA 1992, with the rebasing election in Schedule 4AA (to April 2015 market value for residential land; April 2019 for non-residential land), and mandatory 60-day reporting under the rewritten regime regardless of whether tax is due. A disposal in the UK part is a resident disposal, taxed at 18%/24% with 60-day reporting only where tax is due. The split date is the dividing line; a contract exchange the week before the split date that completes the week after still uses the contract date for CGT purposes, so timing the exchange relative to the split date is the planning lever. See our non-resident CGT rates and reporting page for the regime mechanics.

Foreign rental income. Outside UK tax in the overseas part; inside UK tax in the UK part and reported on the SA106 foreign income pages. Rent that straddles the split date must be apportioned by days. A landlord with a French rental flat producing €14,400 a year who is in the UK part for 92 days of the year reports €14,400 × (92/365) on the SA106.

UK rental income from UK property. In scope for the whole year regardless of split (UK rental profits are taxable under section 264 ITTOIA 2005 irrespective of residence). What changes is the regime: ordinary self-assessment in the UK part, NRL scheme in the overseas part, with personal allowance entitlement under section 56 ITA 2007 still available to UK and EEA nationals throughout.

Personal allowance. Non-residence from the split date does not strip the personal allowance from UK and EEA nationals (s.56 ITA 2007). Other nationals depend on the specific UK treaty. The split-year claim is made on the SA109 and the personal allowance position is recorded in the same residence supplement.

SA109 mechanics: how the claim is actually made

Split-year is claimed by completing the SA109 residence, remittance basis etc. supplement to the self-assessment return for the relevant tax year. The supplement asks the filer to:

  • Identify the split-year case being claimed (boxes 3 onward, with case-specific date entries).
  • Enter the split-year date (the date the overseas part begins for departures, or ends for arrivals).
  • State the SRT outcome that produces whole-year UK residence (box 1).
  • Provide the dates of UK presence relevant to whichever case is being claimed.

The return reports UK rental income for the whole tax year (since UK property income is in scope regardless of residence), with separate disclosure of the period when NRL withholding applied so the withheld tax is credited correctly. Foreign income is reported on SA106 only for the UK part of the year. The SA109 is the document that ties the case-specific Schedule 45 conditions to the operational tax effect; without it the return defaults to whole-year residence treatment and the split-year benefit is lost.

HMRC does not pre-approve the claim. The return is accepted as filed but can be enquired into within the standard time limits. Keep contemporary evidence of the qualifying event for at least six years: employment contract start date for Case 1 and 5, tenancy or sale documentation for Case 3, purchase completion for Case 8, partner's Case 1 or Case 6 status for Cases 2 and 7. See our non-resident landlord self-assessment filing requirements page for the broader SA filing context.

Three landlord scenarios end-to-end

The mechanics above stitched together for three different profiles.

Hannah: Case 1 departure on a Berlin contract

Hannah owns one buy-to-let flat in Sheffield producing £14,400 in annual rent. She accepts a Berlin engineering contract starting 1 September 2026 and signs a two-year lease on a Berlin flat. She works 40 hours a week in Germany from that date; UK workdays are 8 in the remainder of the tax year; total UK nights are 22.

SRT analysis: she is UK-resident for 2026/27 because of her UK ties for April to August. Case 1 applies from 1 September 2026. Split date: 1 September 2026.

UK part (6 April to 31 August 2026, 148 days): she reports UK rental profit for the period on ordinary self-assessment. UK source income includes her UK earnings to 31 August.

Overseas part (1 September 2026 to 5 April 2027, 217 days): NRL scheme applies. Her letting agent should withhold 20% from rent in Q3 2026/27 (October to December) and Q4 (January to March) unless she has NRL1 approval. UK rental profit for this period is reported under the non-resident regime on the same SA return. Her Berlin salary is outside UK tax for the overseas part.

SA109: Case 1 box ticked; split date 1 September 2026; SRT outcome flagged as third automatic overseas test for the full 2027/28 year (so 2026/27 is the split year, 2027/28 is wholly non-resident).

The Mehta family: Case 8 arrival from Dubai

The Mehtas are UK-domiciled but had been non-UK-resident for 4 years living in Dubai. They own three UK rental flats throughout (held in joint names) and a Dubai apartment they continue to own. They buy and move into a UK home in Cheshire on 14 October 2026. They are SRT-resident for 2026/27 because of the UK home plus UK presence after October.

Case 4 fails because they retain their Dubai apartment (Case 4 requires only-a-UK-home). Case 5 fails because neither starts full-time UK work in the year. Cases 6 and 7 fail because they were not in Case 1 / Case 6 mirror positions. Case 8 fits: they had no UK home at 6 April 2026; they started to have a UK home on 14 October 2026; they continue to have it for the rest of 2026/27 and into 2027/28.

Split date: 14 October 2026.

Overseas part (6 April to 13 October 2026, 191 days): NRL scheme applies to the UK rental flats. Dubai rental income from their Dubai-let-out property is outside UK tax. UAE-source income from any other activity is outside UK tax.

UK part (14 October 2026 to 5 April 2027, 174 days): UK rental flats reported under ordinary resident self-assessment. Dubai rental income for the same 174 days reported on SA106. Personal allowance applies (UK domicile, UK nationality).

SA109: Case 8 box ticked; split date 14 October 2026.

Damian: Case 3 departure on retirement to Cyprus

Damian, 64, retires in 2026/27 and moves to Cyprus. He owns two UK rental flats (kept to fund retirement income) and his main UK home in Surrey, which he sells. He has no overseas employment to anchor Case 1.

Sale completion of the Surrey home: 22 January 2027. From 23 January to 5 April 2027 he spends 4 nights in the UK at a hotel for one family event. He is non-UK-resident under the SRT for 2027/28 (he has no UK home, no UK work, and his UK ties drop below the threshold for his day count).

Case 3 conditions: he had a UK home at 6 April 2026 (yes); ceased to have any UK home during the year (yes, 22 January 2027); no UK home for the rest of 2026/27 (yes); fewer than 16 days in the UK from 23 January to 5 April 2027 (yes, 4 days); non-resident in 2027/28 (yes). Case 3 applies. Split date: 22 January 2027.

UK part (6 April 2026 to 22 January 2027, 292 days): UK rental flats reported under ordinary resident self-assessment. The Surrey home sale completes in the UK part, so it falls into the resident CGT regime (and PRR covers most of it).

Overseas part (23 January to 5 April 2027, 72 days): NRL scheme applies. Cyprus rental from his Cyprus apartment (acquired post-move) is outside UK tax.

SA109: Case 3 box ticked; split date 22 January 2027.

Common landlord errors with split-year

The five mistakes that come up most often in landlord enquiries:

Skipping the SRT first. Some landlords try to claim split-year without running the SRT. Split-year only operates where the SRT has produced whole-year UK residence; if the SRT already made you non-resident, split-year is irrelevant and ticking the box is wrong.

Picking the wrong case. A landlord with both a Case 1 trigger (overseas job) and a Case 3 trigger (ceased UK home) cannot pick the more favourable date. Paragraph 53 puts Case 1 first; Case 3 is unavailable in that year for that landlord.

Breaching the Case 3 15-day cap. The post-cease cap is hard. A wedding visit, a funeral, and a fortnight of family time inside the tax year after the home cease puts the landlord over 15 days and Case 3 fails. The fix is either earlier home cease (so the cap window is empty) or no UK visits at all in the residual tax year.

Forgetting NRL withholding starts on the split date. A common pattern: the landlord books a flight, leaves the UK, and the agent keeps paying gross rent because nobody told them. Six months later, the SA return claims a split year from departure date, HMRC sees no NRL withholding for the overseas part, and an enquiry follows. File the NRL1 ahead of the split date and notify the agent in writing of the changeover.

Forgetting that UK property income stays in scope. Split-year does not take UK rental income out of UK tax. It changes the operational regime (resident SA to NRL) but the underlying tax base is the same. Landlords who think split-year means their UK rental income is now outside UK tax for the overseas part are wrong, and the under-reported tax shows up on enquiry.

When to take advice

Split-year arithmetic is mechanical once the case and date are right, but the case-selection step is where most landlords need help. The priority rules in paragraphs 53 to 55 do not always pick the most favourable case for the landlord; the statutory order is fixed and the landlord has no discretion. If two cases could apply and the priority rule pushes you into the less favourable one, the planning lever is the underlying fact pattern (when overseas work starts, when the UK home ceases, when the new UK home begins), not the claim itself.

For landlords with mid-year property disposals, the split date is also the regime-pivot for CGT. Moving the split date by a fortnight to land a disposal in the resident or the non-resident regime can change the reporting deadline, the base cost mechanics, and (rarely) the rate. The companion pre-departure checklist sequences the operational steps; this page sets the statutory framework that the checklist sits on top of.