# UK Residency & Pensions



## Spoilyou (May 26, 2010)

Hello! I wonder if anybody knows about UK Residency when you spend time abroad?
For instance, how long could my partner and I stay in France while retaining UK Residency? We are UK citizens. For how much time per year would we have to return to the UK? I gather as regards Working Tax Credit being away from the UK more than 8 weeks causes problems. I am interested in the pension top up we would receive if we lived in the UK full time. I know we can take our pensions with us to France if we live in France permanently. But we don't get this top up unless we are still officially resident in the UK. I realise many pensioners spend the Winter in warmer climes, then return to the UK. How many weeks a year would we have to return to the UK so as still to be counted as residents of the UK? If we were married, would both of us need to return to the UK, or just one of us? Thanks a lot!


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Under most circumstances, "residency" involves being physically present in the UK (or most European countries) for 183 days in the tax year. There are other criteria, however, mostly involving your "centre of interests."

I'm not sure how this applies in the case of pensions, but perhaps someone with some recent experience can clarify the situation.
Cheers,
Bev


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## Guest (Jun 18, 2012)

To get the pension credit you have to be resident in the UK. Its not related to residency for tax purposes, you have to be physically resident other than holidays etc along the same lines as working and child tax credits.


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## Newforestcat (Mar 14, 2012)

Are you referring to the pension credits if you are a pensioner and your assessed income is under a certain amount not the State Pension payments that go up more or less every year in line with inflation?

They are a bit different.


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## nikkisizer (Aug 20, 2011)

Spoilyou said:


> Hello! I wonder if anybody knows about UK Residency when you spend time abroad?
> For instance, how long could my partner and I stay in France while retaining UK Residency? We are UK citizens. For how much time per year would we have to return to the UK?


As long as you each spend 183 days or more in each tax year in the UK then you are classed as UK Resident, there are no exceptions to this rule.

Kind regards


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## Guest (Jul 2, 2012)

That may be true but that does not get you pension credits which is a state benefit for which you need to be physically living in the UK.


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