How long do I have to live outside the UK to avoid inheritance tax? Since 6 April 2025 the answer has depended on how long you lived in the UK before you left: anyone who was UK resident for at least 10 of the previous 20 tax years is a "long-term UK resident", and stays within inheritance tax on their worldwide assets for a tail of between three and ten tax years after departure, under section 6A of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984. The question is back in the headlines after reports on 8 September 2026 that hedge fund founder Chris Rokos is moving his residency to Greece, and with Chancellor John Healey due to present his first Budget in October. This analysis sets out how the long-term residence test and its tail work, what stays taxable however long you are away, how trusts, gifts and treaties change the picture, and the mistakes that most often keep families inside the net for longer than they planned.
The short answer: between three and ten tax years
The direct answer is that a long-term UK resident who leaves and stays away remains within UK inheritance tax on non-UK assets for at least three and at most ten consecutive tax years of non-residence. The exact number depends on how many of the 20 tax years ending with your last year of UK residence you spent as a UK resident. Someone with 13 or fewer resident years in that window has the minimum three-year tail; each extra year adds one more, up to ten years for someone who was resident for all 20.
This replaced a system built on domicile, the common law idea of a person's permanent home, with a statutory residence count. HMRC describes the change plainly: from 6 April 2025, inheritance tax moved from being based on domicile to being based on long-term UK residence, and a long-term resident who becomes non-resident "will remain in scope for inheritance tax for a minimum of 3 years and a maximum of 10 years depending on the amount of time they resided in the UK".
Three points matter from the outset for any family or adviser weighing a move:
- The tail only covers non-UK assets. UK assets, such as UK property and UK bank accounts, stay within inheritance tax whatever your residence status, subject to the excluded-asset rules discussed below.
- The clock runs in tax years. The UK tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April, and the test counts whole tax years of residence and non-residence.
- Returning can restart exposure quickly. A person who comes back before building ten consecutive years abroad can become a long-term resident again much sooner than a newcomer would.
For families with international structures, those rules now shape the timing of a relocation as much as income tax does, which is why it makes sense to ask private client advisers to model the inheritance tax tail before a move date is fixed.
How the long-term residence test works
The long-term residence test asks one question: were you UK resident for at least 10 of the 20 tax years immediately before the tax year in which the chargeable event, such as death or a gift into trust, happens? If so, you are a long-term UK resident for the whole of that tax year, and inheritance tax applies to your worldwide estate. The years do not need to be consecutive.
Residence for each year is decided under the ordinary income tax rules. For 2013-14 onwards that means the Statutory Residence Test, which weighs days spent in the UK against ties such as family, accommodation and work; HMRC updated its RDR3 guidance on the test in June 2026. Earlier years are decided under the pre-2013 rules. Two technical points in HMRC's guidance catch people out. First, where a person has split-year treatment under the Statutory Residence Test, that year counts as a full year of UK residence for inheritance tax purposes. Second, the test applies regardless of a person's common law domicile, so a British-born expatriate and a foreign national are measured the same way.
Children are treated differently. Under section 6B, for anyone under 20 immediately before the tax year, the 20-year look-back is replaced by the number of whole tax years they have been alive, and the ten-year threshold by half that number, rounded up. A person under the age of one is never a long-term UK resident.
Because residence is decided year by year under a test designed for income tax, the inheritance tax position is only as reliable as the residence records behind it. Families planning a departure are well advised to ask international tax advisers to reconstruct a residence history for each of the last 20 years, so that the number of resident years, and therefore the length of the tail, is known before anyone books a flight.
Counting the inheritance tax tail: the section 6A table
The inheritance tax tail is the number of consecutive non-resident tax years a long-term resident must complete before losing that status. Section 6A(2) provides two exits. A person stops being a long-term resident if they have been non-resident for any ten consecutive tax years in the 19 years before the current year, or for at least "the required number" of consecutive tax years ending with the year before the current year. The required number comes from a table in section 6A(3), based on how many of the 20 tax years ending with the last year of UK residence were resident years.
| UK resident years (in the 20 years ending with the last resident year) | Consecutive non-resident years needed to leave the net |
|---|---|
| 9 or fewer | Not a long-term UK resident, so no tail |
| 10 to 13 | 3 |
| 14 | 4 |
| 15 | 5 |
| 16 | 6 |
| 17 | 7 |
| 18 | 8 |
| 19 | 9 |
| 20 | 10 |
HMRC's own worked examples show how the table plays out in practice:
- Eleven years in the UK. A person resident for 11 years remains in scope for the minimum three years after leaving.
- A broken record. A person on a four-year secondment who goes home for three years and then returns for 11 more has 15 resident years in the 20, so faces a five-year tail on the second departure.
- A lifetime in the UK. Someone resident for 30 successive years before emigrating to Canada faces the full ten years.
- Death during the tail. In HMRC's example of Jakub, whose last UK year is 2026-27 and who was resident for 18 of the 20 years to then, he remains a long-term resident until 6 April 2035. Because he dies in Poland in June 2031, his worldwide estate is within UK inheritance tax.
The practical lesson is that the tail is fixed at the moment you leave by your residence history, not by how settled you become abroad. Buying a home, taking citizenship or severing every UK tie does not shorten it. For planning, tax specialists usually work backwards from the table: the last UK tax year, the number of resident years in the window ending with it, and the first tax year in which the person will be outside the net.
Is UK inheritance tax based on residency or domicile?
For deaths and gifts on or after 6 April 2025, UK inheritance tax on foreign assets is based on residency, measured by the long-term residence test, rather than on domicile. Domicile has not disappeared entirely, but its role is now narrow.
The switch has produced winners as well as losers. Under the old rules, a person who remained domiciled in the UK under the general law stayed within inheritance tax on their worldwide estate however long ago they had emigrated. HMRC's example of Katerina, a UK-domiciled woman who became non-resident in 2011-12, shows the new position: in 2025-26 she is not a long-term UK resident and her foreign assets are out of scope, even though she is still domiciled in the UK under the general law.
Domicile remains relevant, according to HMRC, for deaths and lifetime transfers before 6 April 2025; for trusts where the settlor died before that date, or where certain transitional protections apply; and within double taxation conventions that use the common law concept. Families with long histories in England and abroad therefore still need to know their domicile for older events and for treaty claims, while relying on the residence count for new planning.
The change also reaches arrivals. A newcomer who has been resident for fewer than ten of the last 20 tax years is treated, in GOV.UK's words, as "based abroad" and pays inheritance tax only on UK assets. Ten years of residence, not the 15 years used by the old deemed-domicile rule, is now the point at which worldwide assets come into charge.
Non-dom inheritance tax: the transitional rules for those who left in 2025-26
Former non-doms who were non-UK resident in 2025-26 are covered by transitional rules that can shorten or remove the tail. They apply only to people who were not domiciled, or were deemed domiciled, in the UK on 30 October 2024, the reference date the legislation uses.
HMRC's guidance on the transitional provisions sets out the outcomes. For these individuals, long-term residence is tested using the old deemed-domicile test: resident for at least 15 of the previous 20 tax years and for at least one of the four tax years ending with the relevant year. As a result:
- Non-doms who were not deemed domiciled. Someone who was not domiciled or deemed domiciled on 30 October 2024 and became non-resident in 2025-26 is not a long-term UK resident at all.
- Deemed-domiciled leavers. Someone who was deemed domiciled on 30 October 2024 and became non-resident in 2025-26 remains a long-term resident only until the start of their fourth year of non-residence.
- A return resets the position. If either group comes back to the UK, the ordinary long-term residence test applies again.
HMRC's example of Zhanti, a non-dom resident for 17 years who became non-resident from 2024-25, shows the effect: she was a long-term resident from 6 April 2025 but ceased to be one from 6 April 2027. Under the new permanent rules, 17 resident years would normally mean a seven-year tail. The transitional rules do not help people who were UK domiciled under the general law on 30 October 2024. They must satisfy the new ten-out-of-20 test like everyone else.
What stays taxable however long you are abroad
Leaving the UK and outlasting the tail removes foreign assets from UK inheritance tax, but it never removes UK assets. GOV.UK's guidance for people based abroad says inheritance tax is "only paid on your UK assets, for example property or bank accounts in the UK". The standard rate is 40% on the part of the estate above the £325,000 nil-rate band, according to the GOV.UK inheritance tax guide, and the November 2025 Budget extended the freeze on the nil-rate band and residence nil-rate band to April 2031.
Four rules decide what counts, and each is a common source of surprise for people asking about UK inheritance tax if they live abroad:
- Excluded assets. For someone who is not a long-term resident, GOV.UK lists foreign currency accounts with a bank or the Post Office, overseas pensions, and holdings in authorised unit trusts and open-ended investment companies as excluded, even though the funds may be UK-based.
- UK homes held through companies. Since 6 April 2017, Schedule A1 to the 1984 Act looks through offshore companies and partnerships to the extent their value derives from UK residential property. From 6 April 2026 the Finance Act 2026 extended the same rule to UK agricultural property.
- UK pensions from April 2027. Most unused pension funds and pension death benefits will fall into the estate from 6 April 2027, with personal representatives liable for reporting and paying the tax, under the government's pensions policy paper. Death-in-service benefits from registered schemes are excluded.
- Trust assets. Assets in a trust follow their own rules, set by the settlor's status rather than the beneficiary's, as the next section explains.
The consequence is that a family that has moved abroad can still face a substantial UK bill on a London flat or UK bank deposits. A sensible first step is for wealth managers to map each holding by its location under UK law before and after a move, and families with valuable collections, yachts or art may need luxury asset managers to confirm where those assets are treated as situated.
Excluded property trusts after April 2025: the settlor's status decides
For trusts, the key question after April 2025 is whether the settlor, the person who put the assets in, is a long-term UK resident at the time of each charge. Foreign assets in a trust are now excluded property only at times when the settlor is not long-term UK resident, and this applies to all settlements regardless of when the property was added.
HMRC's guidance on relevant property trusts spells out what that means for discretionary trusts:
- Ten-year anniversary charges. A charge of up to 6% of trust value arises on any ten-year anniversary that falls while the settlor is a long-term resident, pro-rated for the time the assets were relevant property.
- An exit charge on departure. A proportionate charge arises when a settlor ceases to be long-term UK resident, because at that point the foreign assets stop being relevant property. Leaving the UK can therefore trigger a trust charge at the end of the tail.
- Death fixes the position. If a settlor dies on or after 6 April 2025 while a long-term resident, all UK and non-UK trust assets stay in scope for the life of the trust. If they die when not a long-term resident, foreign trust assets are excluded for good.
- Settlors who can benefit. Where the settlor can benefit, the gift with reservation rules can treat trust assets as part of their estate while they remain a long-term resident.
HMRC's example of Trevor, a UK-domiciled settlor who became non-resident from 2022-23, shows the full sequence: a ten-year charge in December 2030 while he is still within the tail, foreign trust property becoming excluded property from 6 April 2032, and an exit charge on that date. The result is that trustees in Jersey, Guernsey and other trust centres need to know the residence status of every living settlor, and asset protection specialists will want to check whether adding to an old trust would forfeit protections that apply only to property settled before 30 October 2024.
The £5m cap on charges for pre-30 October 2024 trusts
Trusts that held foreign excluded property before 30 October 2024 benefit from a cap: relevant property charges on that property are limited to £5 million per ten-year cycle. The measure was announced in the November 2025 Budget, to be legislated in the Finance Bill 2025-26 and applied to trust charges from 6 April 2025.
HMRC's guidance on excluded property comprised in a settlement at 30 October 2024 explains the mechanics. For the first period, from 6 April 2025 to the trust's next ten-year anniversary, the cap is £125,000 multiplied by the number of whole quarters in the period. After that, each ten-year cycle has a £5 million ceiling. Exit charges paid in the cycle reduce the cap for later charges: if £2 million is paid on an exit in year two, only £3 million remains, and once £5 million has been paid, no further tax is due until the cap resets, although returns must still be filed.
The same property is also protected from the gift with reservation rules and from certain charges when a qualifying interest in possession ends. The limits are strict. UK assets and indirectly held UK residential property do not qualify, and additions to an existing trust or new trusts made on or after 30 October 2024 cannot benefit. Only property that was foreign excluded property on that date, and is still foreign property or an authorised fund holding when the charge arises, is covered.
Gifts, spouses and the seven-year rule when you leave
Gifts made while you are a long-term resident remain exposed under the seven-year rule even after you leave. A gift to an individual is usually a potentially exempt transfer: no tax is due if the donor lives for seven years afterwards, but if they die sooner the gift can be taxed, with taper relief reducing the rate on gifts made three to seven years before death, according to GOV.UK's rules on gifts. Taper relief applies only where gifts in the seven years before death exceed the £325,000 threshold.
| Years between gift and death | Rate of tax on the gift |
|---|---|
| Less than 3 | 40% |
| 3 to 4 | 32% |
| 4 to 5 | 24% |
| 5 to 6 | 16% |
| 6 to 7 | 8% |
| 7 or more | 0% |
Spouses in mixed situations face a separate limit. Where a long-term resident gives assets to a spouse or civil partner who is not a long-term resident, the spouse exemption is capped at the nil-rate band, currently £325,000, measured cumulatively across all transfers to all spouses. Anything above the cap is treated as a potentially exempt transfer.
The non-resident spouse can instead make a spousal long-term residence election to be treated as a long-term resident, which unlocks the full exemption. HMRC warns that the election cannot be revoked and lapses only after ten consecutive years of non-UK residence, and that it can make earlier transfers of the electing spouse's own foreign assets chargeable. It is a decision for couples to model carefully, particularly where one spouse plans to leave the UK and the other to stay.
Inheritance tax double taxation treaties
A double taxation treaty can decide which country taxes an estate first, and the UK has only a handful of them for inheritance tax. Under post-1975 treaties, a long-term UK resident is treated as domiciled in the UK for treaty purposes, while the treaty partner applies its own test, according to HMRC's guidance on post-1975 conventions.
| Treaty partner | In force | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Republic of Ireland | 2 October 1978 | Covers Irish capital acquisitions tax and gift tax |
| South Africa | 6 May 1979 | South African domicile follows ordinary residence |
| United States | 11 November 1979 | US domicile if resident or a national in the previous 3 years |
| Netherlands | 16 June 1980, amended 3 June 1996 | Post-1975 treaty |
| Sweden | 19 June 1981, amended 14 July 1989 | Post-1975 treaty |
| Switzerland | 7 March 1995 | Post-1975 treaty |
| France, Italy, India, Pakistan | Before 1975 (Estate Duty era) | Different rules; no provision for deemed domicile |
The list comes from HMRC's guidance on inheritance tax double taxation relief. Where no treaty applies, unilateral relief gives credit for foreign tax charged on assets situated in that country, capped at the UK tax on the same asset. Treaties can also override the trust rules: under the US treaty, if the settlor was domiciled in the US and not a UK national when the trust was made, the UK has no taxing rights over the settled property even if the settlor later becomes a long-term UK resident, except for UK real estate and UK business assets. American families should work with US advisers and UK counsel together, and the same applies to families moving to Switzerland. Popular destinations such as Australia, Portugal and the Gulf states are not on the treaty list.
Why the question is back on the agenda
The tail has become a live issue because internationally mobile wealth is visibly moving. The Guardian, citing Bloomberg, reported on 8 September 2026 that Chris Rokos, ranked third in the Sunday Times list of top UK taxpayers with an estimated £330 million bill for 2025, is preparing to move his residency to Greece and open an office in Athens. The same report noted Greece's 15-year regime offering a €100,000 annual flat tax on foreign income in return for a €500,000 local investment, and Italy's €300,000 flat tax on foreign-sourced income, and listed earlier departures including Nassef Sawiris and Shravin Bharti Mittal, who named the United Arab Emirates as his residence. For advisers in Greece and Italy, such arrivals raise the same question from the other side: when does the UK let go?
The official data is less dramatic. HMRC's statistics published on 30 July 2026 estimate at least 81,900 non-domiciled and deemed-domiciled taxpayers in 2024-25, 1% fewer than the 83,100 the year before, with about 9,000 leaving the non-dom population against 11,200 a year earlier. Their combined tax and National Insurance liabilities rose 9% to £13.6 billion. Those figures cover the last year of the old regime, before the long-term residence test took effect.
Politics is also moving. The Guardian reported that Chancellor John Healey said in his first major speech that he wanted Britain to be "a country of wealth creation" before an October Budget. Tax Policy Associates noted on 19 September 2026 that the Conservatives have said they will abolish inheritance tax when it is "fiscally responsible" to do so, while fewer than 5% of estates currently pay it. Whatever the Budget brings, until legislation says otherwise the tail in section 6A is the rule families must plan around.
Common mistakes when leaving the UK
The most common mistake is to assume that emigration ends UK inheritance tax exposure on the day of departure. Several others follow close behind:
- Coming back too soon. HMRC's example of Gurpreet, resident for ten years to 2027-28, shows that after three non-resident years she is not a long-term resident in the year she returns, but becomes one again the following year. Only ten consecutive years abroad fully reset the test.
- Miscounting split years. A split year under the Statutory Residence Test counts as a full UK resident year for inheritance tax, which can add a year to the tail.
- Keeping UK property in a company. Holding a London home through an offshore company does not take it outside inheritance tax, and since April 2026 the same applies to UK farmland.
- Forgetting the trust exit charge. A settlor's departure can itself trigger a proportionate charge when the tail ends.
- Relying on an old domicile analysis. Domicile arguments now matter mainly for pre-2025 events and treaty claims, not for new planning.
- Ignoring the destination. The destination's own succession and gift tax rules need checking too, and families moving to places such as Australia will find no UK inheritance tax treaty to allocate taxing rights.
Each of these is avoidable with a residence history, a map of where each asset is situated and a clear view of any trusts before the move.
When to take professional advice
Anyone asking how long they have to live outside the UK to avoid inheritance tax should take advice before they leave, not after, because the tail is fixed by the residence history at departure and some trust charges are triggered by the departure itself. The points that most often need specialist input are the residence count under the Statutory Residence Test, the transitional rules for former non-doms, the settlor's status for each trust, treaty claims and the local law of the destination.
A common approach is to pair a UK private client lawyer with a tax adviser in the destination country. Corporate INTL's Find an Expert directory lists private client and tax advisers by jurisdiction, and the Corporate INTL newsroom follows the October Budget and any changes to the long-term residence rules.
Frequently asked questions
How long do I have to live outside the UK to avoid inheritance tax?
If you are a long-term UK resident, meaning UK resident for at least 10 of the previous 20 tax years, you must be non-resident for between three and ten consecutive tax years before your foreign assets leave UK inheritance tax. The length depends on your resident years in the 20 years ending with your last year of UK residence.
Who is considered a long-term resident for inheritance tax purposes?
Under section 6A of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984, you are a long-term UK resident in a tax year if you were UK resident for at least 10 of the previous 20 tax years. The years need not be consecutive, residence is decided under the Statutory Residence Test, and special rules apply to people under 20.
Is UK inheritance tax based on residency or domicile?
Since 6 April 2025 it is based on long-term UK residence for foreign assets. Domicile still matters for deaths and gifts before that date, for some older trusts and transitional protections, and within certain double taxation treaties that use the common law concept of domicile.
Do I pay UK inheritance tax on UK property if I live abroad?
Yes. UK assets such as UK land and UK bank accounts remain within inheritance tax whatever your residence status. UK residential property held through an offshore company is also taxable under Schedule A1, and since 6 April 2026 the same rule covers UK agricultural property.
What are the exemptions for non-residents on UK inheritance tax?
For people who are not long-term residents, GOV.UK lists foreign currency accounts with a bank or the Post Office, overseas pensions, and holdings in authorised unit trusts and open-ended investment companies as excluded assets. The usual £325,000 nil-rate band and spouse and charity exemptions also apply, with limits for non-resident spouses.
What happened to non-doms who left the UK in 2025-26?
Transitional rules apply. A person who was neither domiciled nor deemed domiciled on 30 October 2024 and was non-resident in 2025-26 is not a long-term resident. A person who was deemed domiciled on that date remains a long-term resident only until the start of their fourth year of non-residence.
Does leaving the UK trigger a charge on my trust?
It can. When a settlor stops being a long-term UK resident, foreign trust assets stop being relevant property and a proportionate exit charge arises. Trusts holding foreign excluded property before 30 October 2024 benefit from a cap of £5 million per ten-year cycle on relevant property charges.
What is the 7 year rule for inheritance tax?
Gifts to individuals are usually free of inheritance tax if the donor survives seven years. If the donor dies within three years the gift can be taxed at 40%, and taper relief reduces the rate to between 32% and 8% for gifts made three to seven years before death, where total gifts exceed £325,000.
Does the UK have an inheritance tax treaty with the United States?
Yes. The UK and US convention has been in force since 11 November 1979. It treats a long-term UK resident as UK domiciled for treaty purposes and a person as US domiciled if resident or a national of the US in the previous three years, and it can protect trusts made by US-domiciled settlors.
Sources
- Inheritance Tax Act 1984, section 6A: long-term UK resident (legislation.gov.uk)
- Inheritance Tax Act 1984, section 6B: young persons (legislation.gov.uk)
- HMRC Inheritance Tax Manual IHTM47001: introduction and when domicile remains relevant
- HMRC Inheritance Tax Manual IHTM47020: long-term UK residence test
- HMRC Inheritance Tax Manual IHTM47021: transitional provisions
- HMRC Inheritance Tax Manual IHTM47022: excluded property in a settlement at 30 October 2024
- HMRC Inheritance Tax Manual IHTM47023: charges on 6 April 2025
- HMRC Inheritance Tax Manual IHTM47030: spouse exemption where a spouse is not long-term resident
- HMRC Inheritance Tax Manual IHTM47031: spousal long-term UK residence elections
- HMRC Inheritance Tax Manual IHTM47050: foreign settled property
- HMRC Inheritance Tax Manual IHTM47052: relevant property
- HMRC Inheritance Tax Manual IHTM47071: post-1975 double taxation conventions
- HMRC Inheritance Tax Manual IHTM04311: Schedule A1, UK residential and agricultural property
- GOV.UK: How Inheritance Tax works
- GOV.UK: Inheritance Tax, if you die when you are based outside the UK
- GOV.UK: Inheritance Tax rules on giving gifts
- HMRC: Inheritance Tax double taxation relief
- HMRC: RDR3 Statutory Residence Test
- HMRC policy paper: Inheritance Tax, unused pension funds and death benefits (26 November 2025)
- HM Treasury: Budget 2025
- HMRC: Statistical commentary on non-domiciled taxpayers in the UK (30 July 2026)
- The Guardian: Billionaire Chris Rokos, who paid £330m in tax last year, to quit UK (8 September 2026)
- Tax Policy Associates: One in five pensioner households could face inheritance tax (19 September 2026)
About this article
This analysis was researched and written by The Corporate INTL Newsroom, which covers cross-border legal, regulatory and business developments for lawyers, professional advisers and financiers in over 150 jurisdictions. It has been checked against the Inheritance Tax Act 1984, HMRC's Inheritance Tax Manual and guidance, HM Treasury's Budget documents, HMRC's official statistics and primary reporting. It describes the rules as they stood on the date below; the October 2026 Budget may change them. This article is general information, not legal or tax advice; for advice on a specific matter, consult a qualified adviser. Last reviewed 20 September 2026. For more analysis like this, visit the Corporate INTL newsroom or subscribe to Corporate INTL.
