Deemed Domicile rules
Source: gov.uk (2025-05-16)

Find out about changes to the deemed domicile rules for Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax from 6 April 2017 to 6 April 2025.

Before the 6 April 2017 if you were resident but not domiciled in the UK under common law (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/residence-domicile-and-remittance-basis/rdrm20070) you:
- were liable to UK tax on all income and capital gains which arose in the UK
- could claim the remittance basis and only pay UK tax on your foreign income and capital gains when remitted to the UK
- could claim tax relief on overseas workdays for the first 3 years you were resident in the UK
Changes from 6 April 2017 to 5 April 2025

From 6 April 2017 deemed domicile rules came into force.

If you were not domiciled in the UK under English common law you were treated as domiciled in the UK for all tax purposes if either Condition A or Condition B were met (read sections Condition A and Condition B).

If you met the deemed domicile rules you were no longer able to claim the remittance basis (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/residence-domicile-and-remittance-basis/rdrm30000) of taxation and were assessed on your worldwide income and gains on the arising basis.

The deemed domicile rules for Inheritance Tax (https://www.gov.uk/inheritance-tax/when-someone-living-outside-the-uk-dies) were also changed.

Condition A

To have met this condition you must have:
- been born in the UK
- had the UK as your domicile of origin
- been resident in the UK for the tax year 2017 to 2018, or later years
Condition B

Condition B was met if you’ve been UK resident for at least 15 of the 20 tax years immediately before the relevant tax year.

Counting the number of years for deemed domicile

All UK tax years of residence must be counted including:
- tax years under the age of 18
- any tax year split into a UK and overseas part should be counted as a year of UK residence (for example if you depart from or arrives in the UK during a tax year)
Read more information about split years and the Statutory Residence Test (SRT) in section 5, Application of the SRT to deceased persons — RDR3 Statutory Residence Test (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rdr3-statutory-residence-test-srt).

Domicile status before 6 April 2025

Losing deemed domicile status

It was possible to lose deemed domiciled status under Condition B, if you left the UK and there were at least 6 tax years as a non UK resident in the 20 tax years before the relevant tax year.

Read about Condition B in section ‘Changes from 6 April 2017 to 5 April 2025’.

If you acquired a domicile of choice outside of the UK

If you were born in the UK and have a UK domicile of origin at birth, you can acquire a domicile of choice outside the UK under common law. In order to acquire a domicile of choice outside the UK you would need to have, resided in another country or law territory with the intention of staying there permanently.

If you then returned to the UK on or after 6 April 2017 and became UK resident for that year, you were automatically deemed domiciled in the UK for tax purposes, under Condition A.

Read about Condition A in section ‘Changes from 6 April 2017 to 5 April 2025’.

Leaving the UK before 6 April 2017

Condition B was not met if:
- you were not UK resident for the relevant tax year
- there was no tax year beginning after the 5 April 2017 and before the relevant tax year in which you were UK resident
Read about Condition B in section ‘Changes from 6 April 2017 to 5 April 2025’.

Changes from 6 April 2025

On 6 April 2025 the concept of domicile as a relevant connecting factor for UK tax was replaced by a system based on tax residence. This means deemed domicile is no longer available from 6 April 2025. The foreign income and gains regime replaced the remittance basis. If you make a claim for relief under the regime, you’ll not pay tax on your eligible foreign income and gains.

On 6 April 2025 a Temporary Repatriation Facility (TRF) was also introduced. If you use TRF you can pay a reduced tax charge on amounts that you may choose to remit from 6 April 2025 onwards.

You can:
- check if you can claim relief under the foreign income and gains regime (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-if-you-can-claim-the-4-year-foreign-income-and-gains-regime)
- read Remittance Basis and Domicile Manual (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/residence-domicile-and-remittance-basis) to find out if you’re eligible to use the TRF