How to Fill Out and Submit the SA109: FIG Regime and Split-Year

The SA109 form is the supplementary page you attach to your SA100 Self Assessment return to tell HMRC about your residence status, claim split-year treatment, or elect into the Foreign Income and Gains (FIG) regime.¹ You cannot file it through HMRC’s free online Self Assessment service. It has to go by post or through approved commercial software.²

Who Needs to File the SA109

HMRC lists the SA109 as the supplementary page for non-UK residents and dual residents.³ You need it for any of these situations:

You were non-resident for the tax year and want that on record so HMRC does not tax your worldwide income.
You moved into or out of the UK partway through the year and want split-year treatment.
You are a qualifying new resident claiming the FIG regime for 2025–26 or later.
You are dual resident and want relief under a Double Taxation Agreement.
You are non-resident but entitled to UK personal allowances through nationality or treaty.

If you were straightforwardly UK resident for the whole year with no foreign complications, skip the SA109.

Work Out Your Residence Status First

Several boxes on the form depend on the Statutory Residence Test, introduced by the Finance Act 2013. It runs as a three-stage filter, and you stop as soon as one stage gives you a definite answer.⁴

Automatic Overseas Tests

You are automatically non-resident if any one of these applies:⁵

Fewer than 16 days in the UK during the tax year, if you were UK resident in at least one of the three preceding tax years.
Fewer than 46 days in the UK during the tax year, if you were not UK resident in any of the three preceding tax years.
Full-time overseas work throughout the year, with fewer than 91 days in the UK and fewer than 31 of those days involving more than three hours of UK work. A gap of 31 or more consecutive days without overseas work counts as a significant break and disqualifies you from this test.

Automatic UK Tests

If none of the overseas tests applies, check whether you meet any of these:⁵

183 days or more in the UK during the tax year.
Your only home is in the UK for at least 91 consecutive days, with 30 of those falling in the tax year, and you were present in it on at least 30 days. If you also had an overseas home, you must have been present there fewer than 30 days.
Full-time UK work over any 365-day period overlapping the tax year, where more than 75% of your working days involve more than three hours of UK work.

Meet any of these and you are UK resident. You may still need the SA109 if you are claiming split-year treatment or FIG relief.

The Sufficient Ties Test

If neither block gives a clean answer, HMRC counts your ties to the UK against your days here. The five ties are:⁵

Family tie: a spouse, civil partner, or minor child who is UK resident.
Accommodation tie: a place to stay available for at least 91 continuous days, used at least once in the year.
Work tie: more than three hours of UK work on at least 40 days.
90-day tie: more than 90 days in the UK in at least one of the two preceding tax years.
Country tie: the UK is where you spent the most midnights. This tie only applies if you were UK resident in at least one of the three preceding years.

If you were UK resident in any of the previous three tax years, the ties needed are: 4 ties at 16–45 days, 3 ties at 46–90 days, 2 ties at 91–120 days, and 1 tie above 120 days. If you were not UK resident in any of the previous three years, only the first four ties apply, and you need all 4 at 46–90 days, 3 at 91–120 days, or 2 above 120 days.⁵

Box 12 asks how many UK ties you had. Getting that number wrong is one of the quickest routes to an HMRC enquiry, so count before you write.

The Foreign Income and Gains Regime

From 6 April 2025 the old remittance basis for non-domiciled residents is closed to new claims. In its place is the FIG regime, which gives qualifying new residents up to four years of complete UK tax relief on foreign income and gains.⁶

You qualify if you are in one of your first four tax years of UK residence and were non-UK resident for at least ten consecutive tax years immediately before you arrived. Members of the House of Commons and House of Lords are excluded. If your four-year window opened before 6 April 2025 — say you first became resident in 2022–23 — you can still claim FIG for whatever remains of it from 2025–26 onward.⁶

Claiming FIG means your foreign income and gains are not taxed in the UK for that year, and you can bring the money in freely with no remittance charge. The cost: you lose your income tax personal allowance, your capital gains tax annual exempt amount, your blind person’s allowance, and certain other reliefs. Those allowances are forfeited whether you claim on income only, gains only, or both.⁶

You must claim each year separately. A year skipped is a year lost. On the form you tick box 28 for foreign income relief, box 29 for foreign gains relief, or both.⁷

If you previously used the remittance basis and have foreign income or gains that arose before 6 April 2025 held offshore, the Temporary Repatriation Facility lets you bring designated amounts into the UK at a flat rate: 12% for 2025–26 and 2026–27, then 15% for 2027–28. You do not have to physically move the money during the facility period; tax is due on what you designate in your return for the year of election.

Split-Year Treatment

If you moved into or out of the UK during the tax year, split-year treatment divides the year into a UK part and an overseas part, and the overseas part is taxed as if you were non-resident.⁸ You do not choose whether it applies. If you meet the conditions, it applies automatically.

There are eight cases. Cases 1 to 3 cover departures (you were resident the previous year); Cases 4 to 8 cover arrivals (you were non-resident the previous year). Where more than one case fits, priority rules pick which one sets the split date. For departures, Case 1 takes priority over Cases 2 and 3. For arrivals, the case producing the earliest split date generally wins.⁹ On the form, tick box 3 and enter the date the UK part of the year begins or ends in box 6.⁷

Filling In the Boxes

The 2025–26 SA109 has four main blocks. Pull together your day-count records, travel logs, and foreign financial documents before you start.⁷

Residence Status: Boxes 1 to 14

These boxes establish your status for the year.

Box 1: tick if you were not UK resident for the year.
Box 3: tick if you are claiming split-year treatment; also tick box 3.1 if more than one case applies.
Box 4: tick if you were UK resident in the previous tax year.
Box 6: date the UK part of the year begins or ends (if you ticked box 3).
Box 7: tick if you meet the third automatic overseas test (full-time overseas work).
Box 10: total days spent in the UK during the tax year. This is the most heavily scrutinised entry on the form. Count carefully.
Box 11: days in box 10 you are attributing to exceptional circumstances such as serious illness or natural disaster. HMRC caps this at 60 days a year.
Box 11.1: days when you were in the UK only in transit and did not stay past midnight. Do not include these in box 10.
Box 12: number of UK ties for the sufficient ties test.
Boxes 13 and 14: days you worked more than three hours in the UK and overseas respectively.

Personal Allowances: Boxes 15 to 17

Non-residents do not get UK personal allowances automatically. Tick box 15 if a Double Taxation Agreement grants them, or box 16 if you qualify on another basis. Box 17 takes the country code for your nationality or residence.

Residence in Other Countries: Boxes 18 to 27

Box 18: country codes for other countries where you were tax resident during the year.
Box 19: whether you were also resident there in the previous year.
Boxes 20 to 22: amounts of Double Taxation Agreement relief you are claiming. HMRC’s Helpsheets 302 and 304 walk through the calculations.
Box 23: your date of arrival in the UK, if applicable.
Box 24: any earlier tax year of UK residence before your most recent arrival.

FIG Regime: Boxes 28 Onward

Tick box 28 for foreign income relief and box 29 for foreign gains relief. Box 30 covers qualifying asset holding company income deemed foreign.⁷ The form runs to box 53 and covers additional detail including the Temporary Repatriation Facility. Read HMRC’s notes for boxes 23 to 53 before completing this section.⁶

How to Submit It

Two routes only: paper post, or approved commercial software.² Do not attach the SA109 as a PDF or image to an online return. HMRC has said outright that this does not count.

By Post

Print the SA109 from GOV.UK, complete it, and send it with your full SA100 package. Paper returns must reach HMRC by 31 October following the end of the tax year.¹⁰

If you live in the UK, post to:

Self Assessment
HM Revenue & Customs
BX9 1AS
United Kingdom¹¹

If you live outside the UK, post to:

HM Revenue & Customs
Benton Park View
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE98 1ZZ
United Kingdom¹¹

Keep copies of everything and get proof of postage. If HMRC later disputes that you filed on time, the burden falls on you.

Through Commercial Software

HMRC keeps a list of approved commercial software suppliers that can submit the SA109 electronically with your SA100.¹² Filing this way extends your deadline to 31 January following the end of the tax year, three months later than the paper deadline.¹⁰ If you use GOV.UK One Login, note that you will need to create a separate user ID and password for the commercial software. Your One Login credentials will not work there.

Late Filing Penalties

Miss the deadline and penalties stack up whether or not you owe tax:¹³

One day late: £100 flat penalty.
Three months late: £10 per day for up to 90 days, adding up to £900 on top.
Six months late: a further 5% of the tax due or £300, whichever is greater.
Twelve months late: another 5% of the tax due or £300, whichever is greater.

At the far end that is £1,600 in fixed penalties before percentage charges on any tax owed. Because the SA109 is part of your Self Assessment return, a late SA109 means a late return, even if you filed the SA100 on its own on time.

Records You Have to Keep

HMRC requires you to keep everything you used to complete the return: day counts, travel logs, bank statements, foreign tax receipts, and any SRT calculations. If you filed on time, keep the records for at least 22 months after the end of the tax year the return covers. If you filed late, keep them for at least 15 months from the date you actually sent the return.¹⁴

Where FIG or split-year treatment is involved, holding records for longer is sensible. HMRC can open an enquiry within twelve months of the filing date, and residency disputes tend to turn on documentation gathered years earlier.

If You Also File in the US

Filing the SA109 in the UK does not close out US obligations. US citizens and green card holders are taxed on worldwide income wherever they live. If your foreign financial accounts exceeded $10,000 in aggregate at any point in the year, you must file an FBAR with FinCEN.¹⁵ To avoid double tax, you can claim a foreign tax credit on your US return using IRS Form 1116 for UK income tax paid, limited to the amount that would apply under any relevant treaty rate rather than the amount actually withheld; you cannot claim the credit on income already excluded through the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion.¹⁶ FATCA reporting on Form 8938 is separate from the FBAR and goes with your 1040.

1
HM Revenue & Customs. Residence and Foreign Income and Gains (FIG) Regime Etc (Self Assessment SA109)
2
GOV.UK. SA109 Notes 2024 to 2025
3
HM Revenue and Customs. Self Assessment Tax Return Forms
4
GOV.UK. Residence and FIG Regime Manual – RFIG20020 – Statutory Residence Test (SRT): Introduction
5
GOV.UK. RDR3: Statutory Residence Test (SRT) Notes
6
GOV.UK. HS266 Foreign Income and Gains (FIG) Regime (2026)
7
GOV.UK. SA109 2025-26 Form
8
GOV.UK. Residence and FIG Regime Manual – RFIG21010 – Statutory Residence Test (SRT): Split Year Treatment: What a Split Year Is
9
GOV.UK. Residence and FIG Regime Manual – RFIG21030 – Statutory Residence Test (SRT): Split Year Treatment: When Split Year Treatment Will Apply
10
GOV.UK. Self Assessment Tax Returns: Deadlines
11
GOV.UK. Complete Your Self Assessment Tax Return for the Last Tax Year
12
GOV.UK. Self Assessment Commercial Software Suppliers
13
GOV.UK. Self Assessment Tax Returns: Penalties
14
GOV.UK. Keeping Your Pay and Tax Records: How Long to Keep Your Records
15
FinCEN.gov. Report Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts
16
Internal Revenue Service. Foreign Tax Credit