Split year treatment if arrived in November and later

Hi - I am moving to the UK and want to understand how split year treatment applies to me. Currently I am living and working in Bulgaria - I am a tax resident for Bulgaria. I don't have any other income but my salary which is taxed on a monthly basis by my current employer. In November I am moving to the UK on a skilled worker visa and quitting my job in Bulgaria. As per the government website I will be considered tax resident in the UK for 2023/2024 tax year as per Case 5 - full time job. I have never been to the UK before nor have I ever had any income from there - so 0 ties before moving to the UK soon. It would seem to me that I will qualify for the split year treatment case 5, but in order to qualify I need to "meet the third automatic UK test over a period of 365 days" which states then I will need to work full time in the UK for 365 days - "An individual works full-time in the UK for any period of 365 days". As I am coming to the UK in November only, I will not have 365 days in the UK by October 31st as in November I still will be in Bulgaria with 0 ties to the UK. But then I won't be able to submit my tax return by October 2024 as my 365 days will be in November only. But maybe I could do that online (not sure if it is possible) in order to have January 31st as a deadline? Then I will have my 365 days in the UK. Or could I submit my tax return later when I have 365 days working in the UK (November)? Or can it be a little less than 365 days when sending the tax return? Thank you

Hi,

HMRC cannot advise on whether you are UK tax resident for the year or not. You will need to use the Statutory residence test to determine this on your own personal circumstances.
Guidance can be found here:

RDR3 Statutory Residence Test

Thank you.

Hi Thank you for your response. I know that I will be a tax resident as I will start working full time as soon as I arrive. The question is the split year treatment - how to apply for it if by the 31st of October there won't 365 days in the UK for me? Is it OK to apply for the split year treatment it if I have 320 days (because I arrive in November not October, so there is impossible to have 365 days - in October I will still be in Bulgaria) but all other conditions are met. Thank you, 

Name removed admin.

Hi Evgeniia,

You apply for split year, if applicable, after the end of the tax year in which it refers to so if you are referring to the current tac year, you cannot apply for it until after 6/4/24.

Thank you.