HMRC publishes ‘Residence: The SRT: Annex D: International tax clarifications due to coronavirus (COVID 19)' – Q&A
11 August 2020
HMRC has released a Q&A Document, that discusses the Statutory Residence Test (SRT), which assists individuals in establishing their residence status for a tax year. It looks specifically at some of the changes that have been implemented due to the outbreak of coronavirus.
There are 17 commonly asked questions, accompanied by answers, that explain aspects of the SRT and temporary changes that are in place due to Covid-19. HMRC accepts that the pandemic may affect the ability of individuals to move freely to and from the UK, so SRT legislation allows for a day spent in the UK, in exceptional circumstances beyond an individual’s control, to be disregarded. This is highly dependent on the exceptional circumstances.
To support businesses, HMRC has published the guidance RDRM11005, which confirms which circumstances are considered exceptional for the purposes of the SRT. This needs to be read alongside current published guidance relating to exceptional circumstances – RDRM13200. The maximum of 60 days in a tax year that can be disregarded due to exceptional circumstances is still applicable.
Customers will need to retain records and supporting documents for any claim they make to have days spent in the UK disregarded due to exceptional circumstances.
HMRC’s more general guidance on the SRT can be located at RDRM11000.
CIPP comment
The CIPP regularly attends expat forum meetings. If you have any comments, questions, or more general feedback on the changes to the Statutory Residence Test due to coronavirus, then please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the Policy team – [email protected].
The information in this article is accurate at the time of publication. For all the latest information, news and resources on how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting payroll professions, visit our Coronavirus hub.