Statutory Residence Test - HM Revenue & Customs

Days spent in the UK
Example 20
Members of Maalav’s extended family have continued to live in the UK, in
Birmingham. If, in Example 18, he had decided to visit them before his
meeting, so arrived in the UK on Friday evening disembarking at Heathrow at
6.00pm, the time spent travelling from overseas up to the point of
disembarkation counts as work done overseas.
The time spent travelling in the UK, from disembarking at Heathrow until he
arrives at the family home in Birmingham is private travel, it is not tax
deductible and so does not count as work done in the UK. As Maalav did not
work in the UK on that day for more than three hours, the day is not a UK
work day.
On Monday morning Maalav travels from Birmingham to London for his
business meeting, the journey takes two hours. This journey is not
substantially private travel and so the expense of travel would be tax
deductible and the two hours count as work done in the UK. Maalav’s
business meeting lasts three hours. His journey to Heathrow, which is
business travel, and time in the airport (until departure) takes a further two
hours 50 minutes; this is counted as work done in the UK. Maalav has worked
for a total of seven hours and 50 minutes; as he has worked for more than
three hours this Monday is a UK work day.
3.18 Being on-call or stand-by may count as time spent working depending on
the conditions of your employment and the nature of your duties.
Example 21
Paula works as an engineer and is contractually required to be on-call for four
nights a month in addition to her normal full-time attendance. She is paid a
retainer for those four nights, in addition to being paid for any work done if she
is called out. The four nights are counted as working time.
Example 22
Franek is a self-employed locksmith who keeps his mobile phone switched on
24 hours a day to receive customer calls. For the purposes of calculating
working time, Franek should only include the time spent carrying out his jobs
and the related travelling time.
What is a significant break from overseas work/work in the UK?
3.19 You will have a significant break from UK work if at least 31 days go by
and not one of those days is a day on which you:
work for more than three hours in the UK, or
RDR3 39