HMRC Form P86: UK arrival notification and what replaced it

Key points

• Form P86 has been formally discontinued and cannot be submitted to HMRC.
• Employment arrival is now handled via your employer's PAYE Starter Checklist.
• Self-employed individuals, landlords, and expats with foreign income must register for Self Assessment.
• Split-year treatment (Cases 4 to 8) must be formally claimed on Form SA109 of your tax return.
• Moving back before 5 April without planning can expose overseas income to UK tax for the full tax year.

Why HMRC abolished Form P86

For many years, anyone stepping off a plane to move or return to the UK was handed a paper Form P86. It asked for your arrival date, where you had been living, and whether you intended to remain permanently.

When the UK codified the Statutory Residence Test (SRT) in April 2013, Form P86 was quietly abolished. Under the SRT, tax residence is no longer about subjective intentions or filling out an arrival postcard. It is governed strictly by statutory rules: counting midnight days in the UK, measuring work ties and accommodation ties, and qualifying for specific split-year cases. Submitting an old P86 today achieves nothing; HMRC will simply discard or return it.

How to notify HMRC of your arrival today

Because there is no longer a single arrival form, many relocating expats feel stranded wondering how HMRC actually knows they have arrived. The answer depends on your income sources:

For employees taking up a UK role, your employer handles the notification directly. You complete a standard Starter Checklist, and their payroll software transmits your details to HMRC via Real Time Information (RTI) on your first payday.

If you are self-employed, a company director, a non-resident landlord, or a returning expat with overseas savings and investments, you notify HMRC by registering for Self Assessment to obtain a 10-digit Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR).

Crucially, if you arrived mid-tax year, neither of these standard registrations protects your pre-arrival foreign income. That protection requires a formal statutory claim on Form SA109.

• UK Employment: Complete your employer's PAYE Starter Checklist before your first pay run to prevent emergency 0T tax deductions.
• Self-Employment & Directorships: Register for Self Assessment and National Insurance by 5 October following the end of the tax year in which you arrived.
• Overseas Income & Investments: Register for Self Assessment to file an annual tax return with Form SA109, securing statutory split-year treatment.

Claiming split-year residence on Form SA109

The single most critical step when relocating to the UK is establishing split-year residence. Without an explicit statutory claim on Form SA109, HMRC treats you as tax resident for the entire tax year from 6 April. That means any overseas employment income, overseas business dividends, or foreign property sales realised months before you landed become fully taxable in the UK.

Matthew reviews your exact arrival timeline, overseas home disposals, UK tenancy or purchase agreements, and employment contracts to file your split-year claim correctly with HMRC. You get complete legal certainty that your pre-arrival earnings remain free of British tax.

Archival reference: historic Form P86 PDF

For research, legal reference, or reviewing historic tax filings, you can download a copy of the original HMRC Form P86 below.

Please note: This document is provided strictly as an archival reference. HMRC will reject any new submissions made on paper Form P86. To claim split-year treatment or register your arrival in the UK today, you must use Form SA109.