Overseas Workday Relief (OWR)

When you are employed and a UK tax resident, your earnings are normally taxed in full in the UK. OWR lets you split that income between the days you work in the UK and the days you work overseas, then relieve the overseas-workday portion from UK income tax.

The relief is apportioned by workdays, so if a meaningful share of your working days fall outside the UK, a meaningful share of your earnings may qualify.

One of the biggest simplifications from April 2025 is that you no longer have to keep those earnings offshore: you can bring the money into the UK and still keep the relief. You can read HMRC’s overview in its guidance for globally mobile employees.

OWR is now an election available only to people who also qualify for the FIG regime. In practice, that means:

• You are a “qualifying new resident.” You were not UK tax resident in any of the 10 tax years before the year you became resident. Eligibility is defined under the FIG regime — see our Foreign Income & Gains page for the full picture.
• Domicile is no longer relevant. This is the big change. Returning UK nationals — and people of any nationality — can now qualify. Under the old rules, OWR was for non-doms only.
• You have employment duties performed outside the UK during the year.
• It runs for up to your first four tax years of UK residence (the old regime allowed three).

• By election on your Self Assessment return. The claim is made on your Self Assessment tax return by 31 January after the end of the tax year. It can also be operated through payroll where your employer has the right arrangement in place.
• Record-keeping is essential. You will need a detailed workday diary and supporting travel evidence. HMRC routinely checks OWR claims, so good records matter from day one.
• Mind the transitional rules. If you arrived before 6 April 2025, special treatment applies — for example, someone who became resident in 2022/23 cannot reach a fourth year. It is worth asking us before you assume where you stand.

Overseas Workday Relief is genuinely fiddly since the reform, and the wrong call costs real money in either direction — claiming when it is not worth losing your allowances, or missing relief you were entitled to.

Mark and Tom will:

• Assess whether you are a qualifying new resident under the FIG regime;
• Model whether claiming OWR actually leaves you better off, allowances and all;
• Set up the record-keeping HMRC expects, and prepare and file the claim through Self Assessment or payroll.

You deal directly with Mark and Tom throughout — the same people, start to finish. If you are weighing up a move, it is worth getting the residency picture right early; our UK non-resident tax advice and international tax pages set out the wider context, and Australians arriving or returning can start with our UK tax advice for Australians.