When the special non-resident SDLT test applies to an individual
Special non-resident SDLT test
For certain company, partnership and trust purchases, an individual must have spent at least 183 days in the UK during the 365 days ending on the effective date.
- Days after the effective date do not count.
- Where the person is at the end of each day matters.
- Trust terms and spouse rules can change the result.
Scroll down for the full analysis.
Read the original guidance here:
When the special non-resident SDLT test applies to an individual
When the special non-resident SDLT test applies to an individual
Some property purchases use a special test for the non-resident stamp duty surcharge. It matters when a company, partnership or certain trust is involved. Your UK days after the purchase date cannot help under this test.
What this rule is about
Non-resident buyers can face extra stamp duty land tax, often called SDLT. The law adds two percentage points to the relevant SDLT rates for a non-resident transaction.
For many individual buyers, residence is worked out under the normal individual test. This page covers a narrower rule. It applies in three defined situations where the purchase connects an individual with a company, partnership, or certain trust arrangement for SDLT purposes. The categories are limited.
The key point is timing: this test looks back from the legally set date for the purchase, called the effective date. It does not look forward.
What the official source says
HMRC’s manual explains that, where paragraph 5 applies, an individual counts as UK resident for this SDLT test only if they were present in the UK for at least 183 days in the 365-day period ending on the effective date.
For this purpose, a person is present for a day only when they are in the UK at the end of that day, wherever else they may have been earlier. Days anywhere in the UK count. The special rule for spouses and civil partners can also apply.
- Condition A applies if a buyer is a company or someone acting for a unit trust scheme.
- Condition B applies where an individual is treated as entering into the purchase because it is for a partnership, even though the partnership structure frames the transaction.
- Condition C concerns an individual trustee of a settlement.
- For condition C, no beneficiary can have a right to live in the home for life.
- For condition C, no beneficiary can have a right to income from the home.
A settlement is a type of trust.
HMRC’s manual says this special test can be important when deciding whether a person who controls a company buyer is UK resident for the surcharge.
The manual also says that no refund of this surcharge is available in a paragraph 5 case. That is because the test ends on the effective date. Later days in the UK cannot change the result.
What this means in practice
Moving later will not solve it. In these special cases, only days before, and including, the effective date count.
This is the part people get wrong. A person may spend enough time in the UK during the year after the purchase, but still fail this backward-looking test.
- Identify every person treated as a buyer for SDLT purposes.
- Check whether a company, unit trust, partnership or trustee is involved.
- Count UK days over the correct 365-day period.
- Count a day only where the person was in the UK at its end.
- Do not include UK days after the effective date.
- Check the spouse or civil partner rule as well.
Different trust rules may apply where a bare trust acquires a new lease, or where a beneficiary can live in the property for life or receive income from it. This page does not decide those separate cases.
How to analyse it
Start with the structure of the purchase, not the travel diary. The special test only matters if one of the three conditions is met.
- First, find the effective date of the purchase.
- Next, list all buyers and anyone treated as a buyer.
- Ask whether condition A, B or C applies.
- If none applies, this special test is not the one described on this page.
- If one applies, count back 364 days from the effective date.
- Include the effective date itself, making a 365-day period.
- Count the days when the individual was in the UK at day end.
- Ask whether the total reaches 183 days.
- Then check the separate spouse or civil partner rule if relevant.
- Finally, apply the answer to the wider non-resident transaction test.
What actually decides the answer? Usually, it is not a person’s plans or where they lived later. It is the exact structure of the purchase and a reliable count of days before it.
Example
Camille and Joshua are partners in an LLP that buys a freehold home in England on 1 June 2025 for £600,000. A partnership purchase brings condition B into play.
Camille spent 200 days in the UK between 2 June 2024 and 1 June 2025. She reaches 183 days, so she counts as UK resident for this purchase.
Joshua spent 150 days in the UK during that same period. He then spent 200 days in the UK after 1 June 2025. Those later days do not count under the special test. On the facts in HMRC’s example, Joshua is non-UK resident for the purchase and the other requirements for the surcharge are met.
Why this can be difficult in practice
Counting days sounds simple. It often is not. The statutory question is where the person was at the end of each day, not where they spent most of it.
Trusts can be harder still. A trust deed may give a beneficiary rights that change whether condition C applies. Labels such as “family trust” do not answer that question.
- Do not count days after the effective date.
- Do not assume an LLP is the only buyer that matters.
- Do not assume a trustee purchase always falls within condition C.
- Do not overlook a beneficiary’s right to occupy the home or receive income.
- Do not ignore the separate rule for spouses and civil partners.
- Keep travel evidence that supports the day count.
Key takeaways
- The special test uses 183 UK days in the 365 days ending on the effective date.
- It applies only to the company, partnership and trust cases listed in paragraph 5.
- Later UK residence cannot change the result under this test.
Technical analysis
For advisers, and for anyone who wants to check the law behind this page. You do not need this section to understand the guidance above.
Legislation
- FA 2003 section 75ZA — adds two percentage points for non-resident property purchases
- FA 2003 Schedule 9A para 2 — links a non-resident buyer to the surcharge test
- FA 2003 Schedule 9A para 4 — sets the usual residence test for individuals
- FA 2003 Schedule 9A para 5 — sets the backward-looking 183-day residence test; lists the special cases using this residence test; defines presence in the UK at day end
- FA 2003 Schedule 9A para 12 — applies special rules for spouses and civil partners
- FA 2003 Schedule 15 para 2 — treats partnership property purchases as partners’ purchases
Official guidance
The pages below are HMRC’s guidance. Guidance is not law. It sets out how HMRC reads the legislation, and it is not binding on you, on a tribunal or on a court. Where guidance and the legislation differ, the legislation wins. HMRC can also change or withdraw guidance, and it may not cover your facts.
Where this is not settled
- Whether a trust beneficiary has a qualifying right to live in the property or receive its income depends on the trust terms.
- The source does not set out the separate rules for bare trusts, new leases, or trusts with a life-interest beneficiary.
- Company control and partnership facts may need separate analysis before the residence test can be applied.
Evidence you would need
This kind of case is decided on the facts of the individual property. These are the records that usually settle it, and the ones an adviser would ask you for.
- A day-by-day record showing where each relevant individual was at the end of every day in the 365-day period.
- The date that counts as the effective date for the purchase.
- Details of every buyer and their role, including company, partnership, or trustee status.
- The partnership agreement or trust deed where condition B or condition C may apply.
- Evidence of any spouse or civil partner relationship relevant to the special rule.
Explore this with an AI
Readers often want to test their own situation. Copy the prompt below into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. It hands the model the actual legislation for this page rather than letting it answer from memory, and tells it to be explicit about what is uncertain. What comes back is information, not advice – check it against the links above.
I am researching UK Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT), which applies in England and Northern Ireland. MY QUESTION When the special non-resident SDLT test applies to an individual [Replace this with your own situation: what you are buying, the price, the dates, who the buyer is, and what you plan to do with the property.] THE LAW THIS TURNS ON - FA 2003 section 75ZA - adds two percentage points for non-resident property purchases https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/section/75ZA/2025-11-17 - FA 2003 Schedule 9A para 2 - links a non-resident buyer to the surcharge test https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/schedule/9A/paragraph/2/2025-11-17 - FA 2003 Schedule 9A para 4 - sets the usual residence test for individuals https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/schedule/9A/paragraph/4/2025-11-17 - FA 2003 Schedule 9A para 5 - sets the backward-looking 183-day residence test https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/schedule/9A/paragraph/5/2025-11-17 - FA 2003 Schedule 9A para 5 - lists the special cases using this residence test https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/schedule/9A/paragraph/5/2025-11-17 - FA 2003 Schedule 9A para 5 - defines presence in the UK at day end https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/schedule/9A/paragraph/5/2025-11-17 - FA 2003 Schedule 9A para 12 - applies special rules for spouses and civil partners https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/schedule/9A/paragraph/12/2025-11-17 - FA 2003 Schedule 15 para 2 - treats partnership property purchases as partners' purchases https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/schedule/15/paragraph/2/2025-11-17 Guidance page from HMRC on this topic (guidance, not law): https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/stamp-duty-land-tax-manual/sdltm09890 HOW I WANT YOU TO ANSWER 1. Work from the legislation above. Read it before answering. Guidance from HMRC is its view of the law, not the law, and does not bind a tribunal or a court. 2. Tell me what the rule actually requires, in plain English. 3. Tell me which facts decide the answer, and which facts would change it. 4. Tell me what evidence I would need to support the position. 5. Be explicit about anything unsettled or fact-sensitive. Do not guess. 6. Your training data has a cutoff and SDLT rates and reliefs change at fiscal events. Say so if you are not sure the law is current. POINTS ALREADY KNOWN TO BE UNCERTAIN ON THIS TOPIC - Whether a trust beneficiary has a qualifying right to live in the property or receive its income depends on the trust terms. - The source does not set out the separate rules for bare trusts, new leases, or trusts with a life-interest beneficiary. - Company control and partnership facts may need separate analysis before the residence test can be applied. Do not give me a conclusion you cannot support from the provisions above.
Legislation links show Finance Act 2003 as it stood on 2025-11-17. The law may have changed since, and the rules that apply are those in force on the date of your transaction. The official guidance this page is based on is here.
This page was last updated on 31 August 2026
Useful article? You may find it helpful to read the original guidance here: When the special non-resident SDLT test applies to an individual
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