HMRC denies changes to offshore tax test

The confusion surrounds the ’91-day test’ set out in the guidance booklet IR20: residents and non-residents, where a person is regarded as living in the UK if their visits average 91 days or more a tax year, spread over a maximum of up to 4 tax years. In the guidance it states the test should disregard the days of arrival and departure into the UK, however in a case brought against businessman Robert Gaines-Cooper, who lives in the Seychelles, the Special Commissioners decided days of arrival and departure should be included, bringing Gaines-Cooper over the 90-day limit. This has caused...