Lithuania's 183-Day Tax Residency Rule

At least 183 days in a calendar year is one route to Lithuanian tax residency, and a second test spans two years. Here is exactly how both work.

Last verified: August 2026

In short: presence of 183 days or more in a calendar year is one route to Lithuanian tax residency, so the line is crossed on day 183 rather than day 184. Arrival and departure days both count, and any part of a day counts as a whole day. Lithuania also has a second numerical test that spans two consecutive years, and staying under 183 days in every single year does not clear it.

Threshold: 183 days or more, so day 183
Counting window: Calendar year
A day counts if: You were present for any part of it
Second numerical test: 280 days over two years, with 90 in one
Other residence tests: Permanent home, centre of interests
Legal basis: Law on Personal Income Tax, Article 4

The rule

Lithuania treats you as a tax resident if you are present in the country, continuously or intermittently, for 183 days or more during the tax period. Three points decide most real cases:

The threshold is inclusive. The law says 183 days or more, so a year with exactly 183 days of presence meets this test. Many summaries say "more than 183 days", which is one day out.
Any part of a day is a whole day. The counting rules define a day as running from the start of the calendar day and state that any part of it counts in full, so arrival and departure days, weekends and holidays all count.
The tax period is the calendar year. It runs from 1 January to 31 December, with no fiscal-year variant for individuals.

How to count it

Lithuania counts calendar days of presence, not nights, and separate stays add together across the year.

List every Lithuania trip with its arrival and departure dates.
Count every day on which you were in the country, including the arrival day and the departure day.
Add the stays together within a single calendar year.
If the year total reaches 183, the annual day-count test is met.

Example. You spend 110 days in Lithuania in the spring, then return for another 73 days in the autumn.

Neither stay reaches the threshold alone, but the law adds them together: 110 plus 73 is 183, and 183 is enough.

The two-year 280-day test

Lithuania has a second numerical test, and it is the reason a year-by-year count can give you a false sense of safety. You are also a Lithuanian tax resident if you are present in the country for 280 days or more across two successive tax periods, provided that in one of those two years you were present for 90 days or more. The 280 figure is the total across both years, not a figure for either one, and when the test is met you are treated as a resident for both of those years, not only the later one.

The effect is that you can stay below 183 days in each of two consecutive years and still become resident. Spending 120 days in one year and 160 days in the next reaches 280 in total, and both years clear 90, so the test is met and both years are resident years. AtlasDays deliberately does not calculate this test. It counts a single window, and a rule that compounds two years together and then reaches backwards into the earlier one is outside what the tracker models. Treat the tracker as answering the annual test only, and check the two-year position yourself if you spend long stretches in Lithuania across consecutive years.

Beyond the day count

Neither day-count test is the only way in. Lithuanian law looks first at whether your permanent place of residence is in Lithuania during the tax period, meaning any place you establish, maintain and use, and then at whether your personal, social or economic interests are centred in Lithuania rather than abroad, judged on things like property, bank accounts, where your family lives and the activity you carry on. Either of those makes you a resident without reference to days. Lithuanian citizens whose pay or living costs abroad come from the state or municipal budgets are residents too.

The official counting rules also contain narrow adjustments that a simple day count cannot reproduce, and they move the figure in both directions. Transit through Lithuania between two foreign countries is excluded if it lasts no more than 48 hours. Days you could not leave because of illness or bereavement can be excluded, up to 14 days. In the other direction, days spent outside Lithuania still count if you were on a business trip from a Lithuanian workplace, or on leave granted by your Lithuanian employer. There is also a standing exclusion for Ukrainian citizens and their family members displaced by the war. And if another country also claims you, a double-tax treaty decides residency through tie-breaker rules such as permanent home and centre of vital interests.

AtlasDays tracks Lithuania's 183-day rule automatically

Log your trips once. The Lithuania Tax Residency tracker counts every calendar day of the year for you, arrival and departure days included, privately on your iPhone, and warns you before you reach day 183. The two-year test above is not calculated.

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FAQ

How many days can you stay in Lithuania without becoming a tax resident?

Up to 182 days in a calendar year under the annual test. But the two-year test can still catch you, so keeping each of two consecutive years to 182 days or fewer is not by itself enough.

What is Lithuania's 280-day rule?

You are a resident if you spend 280 days or more across two successive years and 90 days or more in one of them. The status then applies to both years.

Do arrival and departure days count in Lithuania?

Yes. The counting rules treat any part of a day as a whole day, so both ends of a trip count, as do weekends and holidays spent in the country.

About this article: AtlasDays provides general information, not legal, tax, or immigration advice. Rules change and outcomes depend on your circumstances, so never rely on it alone: check the linked official source or ask a qualified professional.