About the Tax Residency Day Counter
This tax residency day counter adds up how many days you spent in each country during a tax year or a rolling 12-month period, from a simple list of trips. Pick the country you want to check, the period your tax authority uses and the day-counting convention, and it shows your total days there, how many remain before the residency threshold (183 days by default), and the highest count in any rolling 365-day window — the figure many tax treaties use.
It is meant for digital nomads, frequent business travellers, cross-border workers and expats who need to show where they spent their time. Each authority counts differently: the US IRS treats you as present on any day you are physically in the country at any time during the day, while the UK statutory residence test counts a day only if you are in the UK at the end of the day (midnight). Calendar-year countries include the US and Canada; the UK tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April; India and New Zealand use 1 April to 31 March; Australia uses 1 July to 30 June.
Day count is only one part of residency. The US substantial presence test weights earlier years, the UK test has ties and work tests plus transit and exceptional-circumstances exceptions, and many countries look at your home, family and centre of vital interests. Day-count rules described here were checked against IRS, HMRC/UK legislation, CRA and Inland Revenue (NZ) guidance for the 2026 tax year. Use this as a log and a first check, then confirm your status with the relevant tax authority or an adviser.
With the default inputs, the days in country during the period is 195 days. Change any value above to recalculate instantly.
How to use the tax residency day counter
- 1List each stay on its own line as “Country: arrival date to departure date”.
- 2Type the country you want to check exactly as it appears in your list.
- 3Choose the tax year or rolling period your tax authority uses.
- 4Pick the day-counting rule: any part of a day (e.g. US) or present at midnight (e.g. UK).
- 5Compare the days counted and the rolling 365-day maximum with the threshold.
Formula and method
Each trip is expanded into individual calendar days. Under the “any part of a day” rule, used by the US IRS, every day from arrival to departure inclusive counts, so a travel day can count for two countries. Under the “present at midnight” rule, used by the UK statutory residence test, a day counts only if you are in the country at the end of it, so the arrival day counts but the departure day does not. Duplicate or overlapping trips to the same country are counted once per day.
Days that fall inside the selected period — a calendar year, the UK tax year (6 April–5 April), an April–March year, the Australian July–June year, or a rolling 365 days ending on a date you choose — are summed and compared with the threshold. Separately, a sliding 365-day window across all your trips finds the maximum number of days in any 12-month span, which is how the 183-day test in many tax treaties is framed.
- d
- A calendar day
- start, end
- First and last day of the counting period (inclusive)
- 183
- Default residency threshold in days
Worked examples
Digital nomad based mostly in Portugal, calendar year 2026
Counting arrival and departure days, the Portugal stays are 81 days (10 Jan–31 Mar), 67 days (15 May–20 Jul) and 47 days (30 Aug–15 Oct), a total of 195 days — above the 183-day threshold. Travel days such as 31 March count for both Portugal and Spain, which is why 279 distinct days are logged although the per-country totals add up to 283.
Same trips using the UK midnight rule
Under the midnight rule the departure day of each trip is dropped, so each Portugal stay loses one day: 80 + 66 + 46 = 192 days. Changeover days now count only for the country you sleep in, so the 278 logged days add up exactly with no double counting.
UK tax year 2026/27 for the UK stay
The UK tax year runs from 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027. Arriving on 20 July and leaving on 30 August means being in the UK at midnight on 41 nights (20 July to 29 August). That is 142 days short of the 183-day automatic UK test.
Frequently asked questions
What is the 183-day rule?+
Many countries treat you as tax resident if you spend 183 days or more there in a tax year — for example the UK’s first automatic UK test and Canada’s deemed-residence rule for people who sojourn 183 days or more in a year. Tax treaties also commonly use 183 days in any 12-month period to decide where employment income is taxed.
Do arrival and departure days count?+
It depends on the country. The US counts any day you are physically present at any time during the day, so both arrival and departure days count. The UK counts a day only if you are in the UK at the end of the day (midnight), with an exception for transit days when you only pass through. Under the UK deeming rule, someone with at least 3 UK ties who was UK resident in one of the previous 3 tax years has every day beyond 30 non-midnight days in the tax year counted too. Choose the matching rule in the calculator.
Does spending fewer than 183 days mean I am not tax resident?+
Not necessarily. Many countries also look at your permanent home, family, work and economic ties, and some use lower day counts combined with other factors — the UK test can make you resident with as few as 16 days depending on your ties, and the US substantial presence test adds one-third of the days from the previous year and one-sixth from the year before that. New Zealand makes you resident after more than 183 days in any 12-month period, counting part days as whole days.
What tax year should I use?+
Use the year your tax authority uses: the calendar year for the US and Canada, 6 April to 5 April for the UK, 1 April to 31 March for India and New Zealand, and 1 July to 30 June for Australia. For treaty tests that refer to any 12-month period, check the rolling 365-day maximum.
How should I record my travel days?+
Keep boarding passes, passport stamps or Entry/Exit System records, and a simple log of each arrival and departure date. Enter them here one stay per line; overlapping dates for the same country are only counted once, so you can paste rough logs without double counting.
Tax results are estimates based on published rules and simplified assumptions. They are not tax advice — check official guidance or a tax professional for your situation.
Sources
- IRS — Substantial presence test
- UK Finance Act 2013, Schedule 45 para 22 — days spent in the UK
- HMRC — Statutory Residence Test (RDR3) guidance note
- GOV.UK — Tax on foreign income: residence
- UK Finance Act 2013, Schedule 45 para 23 — deeming rule
- Inland Revenue (NZ) — Tax residency status for individuals
- Inland Revenue (NZ) — What happens at the end of the tax year
- Canada Revenue Agency — Determining your residency status