What is the start date from which the 2025 automatic UK overseas test and automatic UK test day counts begin?

1. What the rules count — the tax year, not a calendar year

HMRC’s SRT counts days against UK tax years (the year running 6 April to 5 April) when applying the automatic overseas and automatic UK tests; guidance and professional summaries treat “the start” of a tax year (for example “the start of 2024–25”) as the point from which day-counting and reference periods are measured ^{[1] [2]}. That means when people talk about which days feed into the automatic tests they are using the tax-year boundaries rather than 1 January–31 December ^{[1] [2]}.

2. How the three automatic overseas tests and three automatic UK tests relate to days

The three automatic overseas tests establish non‑residence if specific day thresholds and work/presence conditions are met; conversely the automatic UK tests can establish residence if you exceed threshold days or have qualifying UK ties. Practical guidance and firm write-ups emphasise counting nights at midnight and reference the tax year as the counting window ^{[3] [4]}. The internal HMRC manuals also set out detailed day rules (for example deeming, qualifying days and work-hour thresholds) within those tax years ^{[5] [6] [7]}.

3. Common concrete thresholds you’ll see referenced

Sources repeatedly cite concrete day thresholds that operate within the tax year: 183 days for automatic residence, fewer than 16 days in a tax year for one automatic overseas test (if you were resident in prior years), and rules tied to 30 qualifying days for the deeming rule — all of these are counted inside the relevant tax year period ^{[5] [3] [6]}. The third automatic UK test and its work‑based thresholds hinge on proportions of working days (for instance “more than 75% of days on which an individual works for at least 3 hours must be days spent working in the UK”) measured during that tax year ^[7].

4. Where examples point for a 2025 context

Practical examples in professional guidance consider periods starting “the start of 2024–25” and count up to specific dates within that same tax year (for example up to 17 June 2024 in an illustrative case), showing how HMRC expects reference periods to be anchored to tax-year starts rather than a January start ^[1]. Independent summaries written after the 2025 reforms also frame the SRT around tax-year computations and reference HMRC material dated through 2025 ^[2].

5. What the official guidance does not say (and what that implies)

Available sources do not present a new or different “start date” specifically labelled “for 2025 automatic overseas test and automatic UK test day counts” other than the ordinary tax‑year start (6 April) and example references to “the start of 2024–25” used in manuals ^{[1] [2]}. Therefore the plain reading of HMRC guidance and professional commentary is that day counts for the 2025 tests begin at the start of the relevant tax year (i.e., 6 April), and examples use the tax-year framing rather than an alternate single calendar date ^{[1] [2]}.

6. Practical takeaway and next steps

If you are trying to determine which days count toward a specific 2025–26 residence test, treat the SRT window as the UK tax year (6 April–5 April) and apply HMRC’s day-count rules (presence at midnight, qualifying days, deeming rules and the work‑hour tests) within that period ^{[6] [7] [3]}. For individual cases — especially where cross‑border work patterns, split years or the 2025 FIG/inheritance tax changes are relevant — consult the HMRC guidance notes or a specialist adviser because professional sources stress complexity and use tax-year anchored examples ^{[2] [1]}.

Limitations: this summary uses the provided sources only; none explicitly frames a single 2025 “start date” for automatic test counts other than the established tax‑year boundary and example tax‑year starts cited in HMRC and professional guidance ^{[1] [2]}.