Ordinary Residence - A Challenge To IR20

Residence, ordinary residence and domicile are three key aspects which need to be considered whenever anyone arrives in or leaves the UK (along with their position under any relevant double tax treaty). These concepts are still not defined by statute, but have been principally developed by HMRC (until recently as set out in their booklet IR20) applying the very limited case law in this area.

A practice has grown up of treating someone as ordinarily resident if they were or intend to be in the UK for three years or more. However, a recent case (Genovese v. HMRC) has held that ordinary residence can only be obtained after an individual has been resident in the UK for a sufficient period (3 years in this case). An intention to reside here for a sufficiently long period is not on its own enough to make someone resident from the time of arrival.