CAPITAL GAINS TAX
Selling an asset? Get the gain, the reliefs and the deadlines right
When you sell or give away property, shares or a business, Capital Gains Tax may be due. We help you work out the gain, check which reliefs may apply, and prepare your HMRC reporting in good time.
Led by Chris Clark, Fellow of the AAT (FMAAT) · AAT licensed practice · Reviewed on Trustpilot
COMMON SITUATIONS
When Capital Gains Tax may apply
Whether tax is due, and how it's reported, depends on what you sold, how long you owned it and how you used it.
Selling a former home
Including a home you later let out or lived away from. Private Residence Relief may cover some or all of the gain.
Selling a second home or buy-to-let
If tax is due on UK residential property, a UK property return and payment are usually needed within 60 days of completion.
Selling shares and investments
Including funds and shares from employee awards. Crypto-assets are considered case by case.
Giving property or shares to family
A gift to a family member is usually treated as a sale at market value, even when no money changes hands.
Selling a business or business shares
Qualifying gains may be taxed at the Business Asset Disposal Relief rate, if strict conditions are met.
Selling UK property while living abroad
Non-UK residents must report UK property disposals within 60 days. We'll confirm whether we can help once we've reviewed your circumstances.
REPORTING AND DEADLINES
Know what to report and when
UK residents selling UK residential property. If there's Capital Gains Tax to pay, you'll usually need to report the sale and pay an estimate of the tax within 60 days of completion, using HMRC's UK property service.
When no UK property return is needed. If you're UK resident and the whole gain is covered by reliefs, losses or your annual exempt amount, a separate UK property return usually isn't required.
Other disposals. Not every sale or gift has to be reported. Where a gain does need reporting, this is usually through Self Assessment; if you don't otherwise file a return, HMRC's real-time Capital Gains Tax service may be available instead.
Non-UK residents. You must report every sale or disposal of UK land or property within 60 days, even if there's no gain.
Deadlines are short. Please contact us as soon as a sale is agreed. We can't guarantee to meet a deadline if we're contacted late or key information isn't available. If you've missed a reporting deadline, we can help you understand the outstanding requirements and discuss bringing your tax affairs up to date.
How we can help
UK property returns: we prepare and submit your 60-day return, acting as your agent where HMRC access is in place.
Self Assessment: we report your gains and claim any losses on your tax return.
Overdue reporting: we help bring missed returns up to date.
WORKING OUT THE GAIN
How a gain is calculated
Capital Gains Tax is charged on the gain, not on the sale price.
01
Proceeds
What you sold it for or, for a gift to a family member, its market value.
Selling costs, such as agents' and legal fees, are deducted.
02
Allowable costs
What you paid, plus buying costs and the cost of improvements.
Repairs aren't allowable. Inherited assets usually start from their value at the date of death.
03
Allowance and losses
The annual exempt amount is £3,000 for 2026/27.
Losses must be claimed, normally within four years of the end of the tax year, and can be carried forward.
04
Rates
For 2026/27, gains are taxed at 18% within any unused basic rate band and 24% above it.
Your income for the year affects which rate applies.
RELIEFS AND EXEMPTIONS
Reliefs that may reduce your gain
Whether a relief applies depends on your circumstances and the conditions set by law.
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Your only or main home is usually free of Capital Gains Tax. If it wasn't your home throughout, relief is generally given for the time it was, and the final 9 months of ownership count if it was your main home at some point.
Some time away can also count as living there: up to three years for any reason, or periods working abroad for an employer. Generally you must have lived there before the absence and moved back afterwards, and each rule has its own conditions.
Letting relief is now limited to cases where you shared your home with your tenant. Renting out a former home while you live elsewhere doesn't qualify.
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If you have more than one home, you may be able to choose which is your main residence for tax purposes, usually within two years of the change.
A married couple or civil partners living together can have only one main residence between them. Transfers between spouses or civil partners who live together don't usually give rise to Capital Gains Tax.
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If you sell all or part of your business, or shares in your own trading company, qualifying gains may be taxed at the Business Asset Disposal Relief rate of 18% for disposals in 2026/27, subject to the relevant conditions and lifetime limit. The lifetime limit is currently £1 million.
Strict conditions apply, usually throughout the two years before the sale. For shares, you'll normally need at least 5% of the company and to be an officer or employee. The Budget on 28 October 2026 announced that the lifetime limit will fall to £500,000 for disposals on or after 6 April 2027; this still needs to be legislated.
Investors' Relief can apply to some external investors. More complex transactions and reorganisations are assessed individually.
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Gifts of business assets, and some other gifts, may allow the gain to be held over to the person receiving it, by a joint claim. Not every gift qualifies: a let residential property usually doesn't.
Gifts can also have Inheritance Tax consequences, and inheriting an asset doesn't itself give rise to Capital Gains Tax. We'll review the assets and circumstances before agreeing to help.
SHARES AND INVESTMENTS
Selling shares, funds and other investments
When you sell shares of the same class in the same company, HMRC's matching rules decide which ones you've sold: first those bought on the same day, then any bought in the next 30 days, then your average-cost pool. Foreign shares are converted to sterling at the rates for each date.
If your shares came from an employer award, see our Employee Share Schemes page. Crypto-assets, share reorganisations, takeovers and EIS or SEIS investments are considered case by case, once we've reviewed the transactions and records.
CROSS-BORDER
Living abroad or moving country
If you're not UK resident, you're usually still taxable on gains from UK land and property, and every such disposal must be reported within 60 days. Gains on properties held before April 2015 (residential) or April 2019 (other UK land) can usually be worked out from the value at that date.
If you return to the UK within five years of leaving, some gains made while you were away can be taxed when you come back.
What we'll look at
Your residence status in the tax year of sale
When and at what value you acquired the property
UK reporting and payment deadlines
Tax due in another country, and double tax relief
Whether we can help: we'll confirm after reviewing your circumstances
ILLUSTRATIVE SCENARIO
Molly Moveback: the years abroad that still counted
Molly Moveback is a fictional client. Her circumstances and figures are illustrative and simplified.
Molly lived in her flat for three years before her employer posted her abroad. She let the flat while she was away and, seven and a half years later, moved back in. A year after that she moved in with her partner and let the flat again, selling it in February 2027.
Because Molly worked wholly abroad for her employer and then returned to live in the flat, her overseas years could count as time living there. The final nine months also counted. Only the later letting period, less those nine months, was taxable. Had she not moved back, the overseas years could have been taxable too.
Molly Moveback – at a glance (2026/27)
Gain on sale £180,000
Months owned 180
Months counted as living there 147
Private Residence Relief (£147,000)
Chargeable gain £33,000
Less annual exempt amount (£3,000)
Taxable gain £30,000
Illustrative CGT at 24% £7,200
The overseas employment rule applies only where its conditions are met. Molly's complete occupation and employment history made the difference.
Fictional example using 2026/27 rules. It assumes all of Molly's overseas duties were performed outside the UK, that she had no other gains, and that her income already used her basic rate band. She needed to report and pay within 60 days of completion.
HOW CJC CAN HELP
Clear figures, reported in good time
What we do
Calculate gains and losses from your records
Check whether Private Residence Relief, Business Asset Disposal Relief or other reliefs may apply
Prepare and submit UK property returns, as your agent where HMRC access is in place
Report gains through Self Assessment
Help bring overdue reporting up to date
What to have ready
Purchase and sale completion statements
Costs of buying, selling and improvements
The dates you lived in the property, and any time away
For shares: broker statements and contract notes
Details of any gift, inheritance or earlier relief claim
Your residence position, if you live abroad
FAQ
Questions about Capital Gains Tax
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If you're UK resident and there's no Capital Gains Tax to pay on a UK residential property, for example because Private Residence Relief covers the whole gain, you usually don't need to make a separate UK property return.
Gains may still need to go on your Self Assessment return, for example if your total proceeds are over £50,000 and you're registered for Self Assessment. If you're not UK resident, you must report every UK property disposal within 60 days, even if there's no tax to pay.
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Usually, if it was your only or main home throughout your ownership, you didn't let it out and no part was used exclusively for business.
If you lived elsewhere for a time, let it out or used part of it for work, some of the gain may be taxable. We can check your occupation history and work out how much relief applies.
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If you live in more than one home, you may be able to nominate which is your main residence for tax purposes, usually within two years of the change in your circumstances.
A married couple or civil partners living together can have only one main residence between them.
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Yes, if the improvement is still reflected in the asset when you sell it, such as an extension. Repairs and maintenance aren't deductible.
Keep invoices and records, as you may need to show what was spent and when.
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If you've missed a reporting deadline, we can help you understand the outstanding requirements and discuss bringing your tax affairs up to date.
Penalties and interest may apply, and we can't guarantee the outcome, but acting promptly usually helps.
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Specialist CGT work is quoted individually once we understand what's involved. You can request a quote, or book a Personal Tax Advisory Consultation (a 30-minute video call with Chris Clark, normally via Zoom, for £150 including VAT where applicable, with a concise written summary emailed within three working days) to talk it through first.
Selling or recently sold?
Book a consultation to talk through your sale, or request a quote for your computation and reporting.
Related: Personal Tax · Employee Share Schemes