Capital Gains Tax

As a general rule, if you are resident in the UK, you are liable to pay Capital Gains Tax (CGT) when you sell (or dispose of) an overseas property at a gain.

The annual exempt amount applicable to CGT was reduced to £6,000 (from £12,300) for the current 2023-24 tax year. CGT is normally charged at a simple flat rate of 20% and this applies to most chargeable gains made by individuals. If taxpayers only pay basic rate tax and make a small capital gain, they may only be subject to a reduced rate of 10%. Once the total of taxable income and gains exceed the higher rate threshold, the excess will be subject to 20% CGT. 

A higher rate of CGT applies to gains on the disposal of residential property (apart from a principal private residence). The rates are 18% for basic rate taxpayers and 28% for higher rate taxpayers.

You may also have to pay tax in the country where the overseas property was located. If you are subject to paying double taxation, there may be reliefs available depending on what tax agreements are in place with the UK and the country where you made the taxable gain. There is also additional guidance available for dual residents.

There are special rules if you are resident in the UK, but your permanent home or domicile is abroad.

Gift Hold-Over Relief is a tax relief that results in a deferral of Capital Gains Tax (CGT). The relief can be claimed when assets are given away (including certain shares) or sold for less than they are worth to help benefit the buyer. The relief means that any gain on the asset is 'held-over' until the recipient of the gift sells or disposes of them. This is done by reducing the donee's acquisition cost by the amount of the held over gain.

The person gifting a qualifying asset is not subject to CGT on the gift. However, CGT may be payable where the asset is sold for less than it’s worth. Gifts between spouses and civil partners don’t trigger capital gains. A claim for the relief must be made jointly with the person to whom the gift was made.

If you are giving away business assets, you must:

• be a sole trader or business partner, or have at least 5% of voting rights in a company (known as your 'personal company'); and
• use the assets in your business or personal company.

You can usually get partial relief if you used the assets only partly for your business.

If you are giving away shares, then the shares must be in a company that is either:

• not listed on any recognised stock exchange; or
• your personal company.

The company's main activities must be of a trading nature, for example, providing goods or services rather than non-trading activities like investment.

If you sell an asset for less than you paid for it, you would make a capital loss. As a general rule if the asset would have been liable to CGT had a gain taken place, then the loss should be an allowable deduction. 

These allowable losses are deducted automatically from gains in the same tax year. It is not necessary to make a claim for set-off of losses. However, it is possible to claim that losses are allowable, and preference be given to such losses.

If a taxpayer’s total taxable gain is still above the tax-free allowance, they can deduct unused losses from previous tax years. When unused losses remain and that cannot be set against gains of the same year, then these losses are carried forward to be set against future gains. It is only possible to use losses brought forward if net gains exceed the annual CGT exempt amount for the year.

In most circumstances, allowable losses and the annual exempt amount can be deducted in the way that is most beneficial to the individual. This will usually be against gains that are charged at the highest rate. A claim for losses does not have to be made straight away and can be made up to 4 years after the end of the tax year that the relevant asset was disposed.

In general, there is no Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on a property which has been used as a main family residence. An investment property which has never been used will not qualify. This relief from CGT is commonly known as private residence relief.

Taxpayers are usually entitled to full relief from CGT where all the following conditions are met:

1. The family home has been the taxpayers only or main residence throughout the period of ownership.
2. The taxpayer has not let part of the house out – this does not include having a lodger.
3. No part of the family home has been used exclusively for business purposes (using a room as a temporary or occasional office does not count as exclusive business use).
4. The garden or grounds including the buildings on them are not greater than 5,000 square metres (just over an acre) in total.
5. The property was not purchased to purely make a financial gain.

If a property has been occupied at any time as an individual’s private residence, the last 9 months of ownership are disregarded for CGT purposes – even if the individual was not living in the property when it was sold. The time period can be extended to 36 months under certain limited circumstances. There are also special rules for homeowners that work or live away from home.

Married couples and civil partners can only count one property as their main home at any one time.

If the conditions outlined above are not met, then CGT may be due on some or all of the gain.

Most payments a company makes to its shareholders, in respect of their shares, will be qualifying distributions and may be subject to Income Tax.

If certain conditions are met, the payment can be treated as an exempt distribution. An exempt distribution is a payment that is not treated as a distribution. It is treated as consideration for the disposal of shares and is subject to CGT.

When a company makes a purchase of its own shares, any excess paid over the amount of capital originally subscribed for the shares is usually treated as a distribution. However, there are special provisions that enable an unquoted trading company or an unquoted holding company of a trading group to undertake a purchase of its own shares without making a distribution.

In order to do this, a clearance application may be made. Under this procedure a company wishing to make a purchase of its own shares can obtain advance confirmation from HMRC that the distribution arising will be an exempt distribution.

If the application is approved, the payment is treated as consideration for the disposal of the shares in the hands of the seller and subject to CGT. Where entrepreneurs' relief is available, CGT of 10% is payable in place of the standard rate. There are a number of qualifying conditions that must be met in order to qualify for the relief. Where the necessary conditions are met a company purchase of own shares can be a tax efficient way of exiting a business.

The Capital Gains Tax (CGT) rules that apply during separation and divorce changed for disposals that occur on or after 6 April 2023. These changes extended the period for separating spouses and civil partners to make no gain/no loss transfers for up to three years after they cease to live together. The new rules also provide for an unlimited time if the assets are the subject of a formal divorce agreement. Previously, the no gain/no loss treatment was only available in relation to any disposals in the remainder of the tax year in which the separation happens.

The government also introduced special rules that apply to individuals who have maintained a financial interest in their former family home following separation, and that apply when that home is eventually sold. This will allow for private residence relief (PRR) to be claimed when a qualifying property is sold.

These changes should ensure that most separating couples have enough time to sort out their affairs without a possible charge to CGT.

In general, there is no Capital Gains Tax (CGT) due on the disposal of a property which has been used as the main family residence. This relief from CGT is commonly known as 'private residence relief'. However, where all or part of the home has been rented out the entitlement to relief may be affected. Homeowners that let all or part of their house may not benefit from the full private residence relief, but may benefit from letting relief.

Homeowners that lived in their home at the same time as tenants, may qualify for letting relief on gains they make when they sell the property. Letting relief does not cover any proportion of the chargeable gain made while the home is empty.

The maximum amount of letting relief due is the lower of:

• The amount of private residence relief due
• £40,000
• The amount of gain you've made on the let part of the property

Worked example:

• You used 40% of your house as your home and let out the other 60%.
• You sell the property, making a gain of £60,000.
• You're entitled to private residence relief of £24,000 on the part used as your home (40% of the £60,000 gain).
• The remaining gain on the part of your home that's been let is £36,000.

The maximum letting relief due is £24,000 as this is the lower of:

• £24,000 (the private residence relief due)
• £40,000
• £36,000 (the gain on the part of the property that's been let)

The letting exemption is only available when the conditions outlined above apply, most importantly that the property owner(s) were / are in shared occupancy with a tenant. The letting relief was more generous prior to 6 April 2020, when the requirement for the property owner to live in the property at the same time as their tenants did not apply. 

The annual exempt amount applicable to Capital Gains Tax (CGT) has been reduced to £6,000 (from £12,300) for the new 2023-24 tax year.

CGT is normally charged at a simple flat rate of 20% and this applies to most chargeable gains made by individuals. If taxpayers only pay basic rate tax and make a small capital gain, they may only be subject to a reduced rate of 10%. Once the total of taxable income and gains exceed the higher rate threshold, the excess will be subject to 20% CGT. 

A higher rate of CGT applies to gains on the disposal of residential property (apart from a principal private residence). The rates are 18% for basic rate taxpayers and 28% for higher rate taxpayers.

Most people are aware that they do not usually have to pay CGT when they sell their qualifying residential property used wholly as a main family residence. However other sales of property that are not a principle private residence (PPR) will be subject to CGT.

This includes:

• buy-to-let properties
• business premises
• land
• inherited property

The deadline for paying any CGT due on the sale of a residential property is 60-days. This means that a CGT return needs to be completed and a payment on account of any CGT due should be made within 60-days of the completion of the transaction. This applies to UK residents selling UK residential property where CGT is due.

There are various reliefs available from CGT for the sale of qualifying business assets.

The Shares and Assets Valuations (SAV) team is a special section of HRMC that deals with enquiries in respect of the valuations of unquoted shares – shares of companies which are not quoted, listed or traded on the stock exchange for taxation purposes. 

The office also deals with other asset valuations including:

• intangible assets (for example intellectual property, trademarks, patents, goodwill)
• foreign shares
• bloodstock
• chattels
• foreign residential property
• boats, aircraft and a range of other assets

Valuations are required in many circumstances including acquisitions, disposals, issue of certain share options and transfers as a gift or upon death. Requests for valuations should be sent initially by post. HMRC will only email you with confidential information if given written agreement that they can do so. The SAV office can also help with Post Transaction Valuation Checks for the disposal of assets.

The SAV does not provide valuations for:

• aircraft
• bloodstock (for example, racehorses and livestock herds)
• boats
• chattels (such as antiques, art and jewellery)
• foreign residential property
• foreign shares
• intangible assets (such as intellectual property, trademarks, patents and goodwill)
• negligible value claims
• quoted and unquoted shares

Business Asset Rollover Relief is a valuable relief that allows for deferral of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on gains made when taxpayers sell or dispose of certain assets and use all or part of the proceeds to buy new business assets. The relief means that the tax on the gain of the old asset is postponed. The amount of the gain is effectively rolled over into the cost of the new asset and any CGT liability is deferred until the new asset is sold.

Where only part of the proceeds from the sale of the old asset is used to buy a new asset a partial rollover claim can be made. It is also possible to claim for provisional rollover relief where the taxpayer expects to buy new assets but haven’t done so. Interestingly, rollover relief can also be claimed if taxpayers use the proceeds from the sale of the old asset to improve assets they already own. The total amount of rollover relief is dependent on the total amount reinvested to purchase new assets.

There are qualifying conditions to be met to ensure entitlement to the relief. This includes ensuring that new assets are purchased within 3-years of selling or disposing of the old ones (or up to one year before). Under certain circumstances, HMRC has the discretion to extend these time limits. In addition, both the old and new assets must be used by your business and the business must be trading when you sell the old assets and buy the new ones. Taxpayers must claim relief within 4-years of the end of the tax year when they bought the new asset (or sold the old one, if that happened after).