Capital Gains Tax

In general, there is no Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on a property which has been used as the family's main residence. This relief from CGT is commonly known as Private Residence Relief or PRR. However, where part of the home has been let out the entitlement to relief may be affected. Homeowners that let out part of their house may not benefit from the full PRR but can benefit from letting relief. Since April 2020, letting relief has been restricted to homeowners who live in their property and partly rent it out.

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

• £40,000;
• the amount of PRR due; and
• the same amount as the chargeable gain they made while letting out part of their home.

Worked example:

• You rent out a large bedroom to a tenant that comprises 10% of your home.
• You sell the property, making a gain of £75,000.
• You're entitled to PRR of £67,500 on the part used as your home (90% of the total £75,000 gain).
• The remaining gain on the part of your home that's been let is £7,500.

The maximum letting relief due is £7,500 as this is the lower of:

• £40,000
• £67,500 (the PRR due)
• £7,500 (the gain on the part of the property that's been let)

There's no Capital Gains Tax to pay – the gain of £75,000 is covered by the £67,500 PRR and the £7,500 letting relief.

You are not considered to be letting out your home if either:

• you have a lodger who shares living space with you; or
• your children or parents live with you and pay you rent or housekeeping.

HMRC’s guidance is clear that where a capital sum is derived from an asset, the relevant legislation treats the owner as having made a disposal for capital gains purposes.

The legislation contained in s22 TCGA92 states that there is:

“…..a disposal of assets by their owner where any capital sum is derived from assets notwithstanding that no asset is acquired by the person paying the capital sum…..”

There are occasions when a person may receive a capital sum even though a natural disposal of an asset has not occurred, for example, on receiving compensation for damage to an asset or a sum of money from another person for the right to use or exploit an asset.

HMRC’s internal manual states that as the word ‘disposal’ is not expressly defined in TCGA92 it must be given its normal everyday meaning. Therefore, disposals for capital gains purposes include natural disposals and part disposals of assets.

The term bed and breakfasting (sale and repurchase) of shares refers to transactions where shares are sold and bought back the next morning. This used to have Capital Gains Tax (CGT) benefits by crystallising a gain or a loss but is no longer tax effective over such a short period. The change to the rule happened in 1998 when new legislation introduced special share matching rules. Under these rules there are a number of limitations including a 30-day waiting period before the shares can be repurchased.

However, it is possible under certain circumstances to use a modified bed and breakfasting type of arrangement to sell an asset and buy it back again a short time later. A gain could be created in order to use up the annual exempt amount, or a non-resident may bed and breakfast their chargeable assets to establish a higher base cost before they enter the UK tax regime.

We would recommend you seek our advice before undertaking any such transactions to ensure that all tax aspects have been considered. For example, for any bed and breakfast transaction to be effective, there must be a genuine transfer of beneficial ownership of the asset and the share matching rules must be met.

Business Asset Disposal Relief (BADR) is available on the sale of a business, disposal of shares in a trading company or an individual’s interest in a trading partnership. Where this relief is available sellers can benefit from a 10% tax charge on exit from their business.

When the relief if available Capital Gains Tax (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.

BADR used to be known as Entrepreneurs’ Relief before 6 April 2020. The name change did not affect the operation of the relief.

You can currently claim a total of £1 million in BADR over your lifetime. The £1m lifetime limit means you can qualify for the relief more than once. The lifetime limit may be higher if you sold assets before 11 March 2020.

Claims for BADR are made either through your self-assessment tax return or by filling in Section A of the Business Asset Disposal Relief helpsheet.

The deadline for claiming relief is as follows:

The annual exempt amount applicable to Capital Gains Tax (CGT) is to be halved from April 2024. This means that the exempt amount will be reduced from £6,000 currently, to £3,000 from April 2024. The exempt amount was as high as £12,300 2022-23.

Any taxpayers with small gains should consider the benefits of crystalising these gains before 6 April 2024 to fully use the £6,000 allowance for 2023-24. Married couples and civil partners both qualify for the £6,000 allowance, in which case organising joint ownership of these assets before disposal may be beneficial if each individual partner is not fully using their annual allowance. 

Transfers between spouses and civil partners are exempt from CGT. Making use of the full allowance can, in some circumstances, effectively double the CGT exemption before the end of the current tax year, to £12,000.

CGT for individuals is normally charged at 10% or 20%. If taxpayers 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.

In general, there is no Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on a property which has been used as the main family residence. This relief from CGT is commonly known as Private Residence Relief or PRR. However, where part of the home has been let out the entitlement to relief may be affected. Homeowners that let out part of their house may not benefit from the full PRR but can benefit from letting relief. Since April 2020, letting relief has been restricted to homeowners who live in their property and partly rent it out.

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

• £40,000
• the amount of PRR due
• the same amount as the chargeable gain they made while letting out part of their home

Worked example:

• You rent out a large bedroom to a tenant that comprises 10% of your home.
• You sell the property, making a gain of £75,000.
• You're entitled to PRR of £67,500 on the part used as your home (90% of the total £75,000 gain).
• The remaining gain on the part of your home that's been let is £7,500.

The maximum letting relief due is £7,500 as this is the lower of:

• £40,000
• £67,500 (the PRR due)
• £7,500 (the gain on the part of the property that's been let)

There's no Capital Gains Tax to pay – the gain of £75,000 is covered by the £67,500 PRR and the £7,500 letting relief.

You are not considered to be letting out your home if either:

• you have a lodger who shares living space with you, or
• your children or parents live with you and pay you rent or housekeeping.

In general, there is no Capital Gains Tax (CGT) when you sell your home. This applies to a property which has been used as the main family residence. An investment property which has never been used as your own home does not qualify for relief. 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 just to make a 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.

Gift Hold-Over Relief is a tax relief that effectively defers 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 when the asset is sold for less than it’s worth. Gifts between spouses and civil partners do not 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 claim partial relief if you used the assets 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 in trading, for example providing goods or services, rather than non-trading activities like investment.

Business Asset Disposal Relief (BADR) applies to the sale of a business, shares in a trading company or an individual’s interest in a trading partnership. Where this relief is available Capital Gains Tax (CGT) of 10% is payable in place of the standard rate. There are a number of qualifying conditions that must be met to benefit from this relief.

BADR used to be known as Entrepreneurs’ Relief before 6 April 2020. The name change did not affect the operation of the relief.

You can currently claim a total of £1 million in BADR over your lifetime. The £1m lifetime limit means you can qualify for the relief more than once. The lifetime limit may be higher if you sold assets before 11 March 2020.

Claims for BADR are made via your self-assessment tax return or by filling in Section A of the Business Asset Disposal Relief help sheet.

The deadline for claiming relief is as follows:

The annual exempt amount applicable to Capital Gains Tax (CGT) is currently £6,000 and is set to be reduced to £3,000 from April 2024.

CGT is normally charged at a simple flat rate of 20% and this rate 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.

These include:

• 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.