Capital Gains Tax

Business Asset Disposal Relief (BADR) can significantly reduce the Capital Gains Tax due when selling a business or shares, but with higher rates coming from April 2026, timing and eligibility matter more than ever.

BADR applies to the sale of a business, shares in a trading company, or an individual’s interest in a trading partnership. When this relief is available, a reduced Capital Gains Tax (CGT) rate, currently 14%, is applied instead of the standard rate. These rates will increase in the new tax year starting on 6 April 2026 to 18%. As a result, disposals made after April 2026 will face a higher CGT rate.

To qualify for BADR, certain conditions must be met:

Sale of a Business or Business Closure:

• You must be a sole trader or business partner; and
• You must have owned the business for at least 2 years leading up to the sale or closure.
• You must dispose of your business assets within 3 years to qualify.

Sale of Shares or Securities:

Both of the following must apply for at least 2 years up to the date you sell your shares:

• You must be an employee or office holder of the company (or a company within the same group).
• The company’s main activities must involve trading, not non-trading activities like investment, or it must be the holding company of a trading group.

Additional rules can apply if the shares are from an Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI).

Currently, you can claim a total of £1 million in BADR over your lifetime, allowing you to qualify for the relief multiple times. The lifetime limit may be higher if you sold assets before 11 March 2020.

CGT on certain UK residential property sales often has a strict 60-day reporting and payment deadline, so early planning can avoid penalties.

If you are selling a second property, such as a buy-to-let or a former home that is no longer your main residence, CGT will usually apply. This is different from selling your main home, which is often covered by Principal Private Residence (PPR) relief and therefore exempt from CGT.

The annual exempt amount applicable to Capital Gains Tax (CGT) is currently £3,000. CGT is normally charged at a simple flat rate of 24% 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 18%. Once the total of taxable income and gains exceed the higher rate threshold, the excess will be subject to 24% CGT. 

Most homeowners do not pay CGT when selling their main family home, as PPR relief usually applies. However, CGT is commonly payable on gains from:

• Buy-to-let properties
• Second homes or holiday homes
• Business premises
• Land
• Inherited property (based on the increase in value since inheritance, not since original purchase)

Any CGT due on the sale of UK residential property must usually be reported and paid within 60 days of completion. This requires submitting a UK Property CGT return and making a payment on account within that timeframe.

Failing to meet the 60-day deadline can result in penalties and interest, so it is important to plan ahead and obtain advice as early as possible when selling a property that is not fully exempt.

Owning more than one home can create valuable Capital Gains Tax planning opportunities, but only if you understand how and when to nominate a property for Private Residence Relief.

Typically, you do not have to pay Capital Gains Tax (CGT) when you sell a property that has been your main family home. In contrast, properties that have only been used as investments and never as a primary residence do not qualify for this exemption. This tax relief is known as Private Residence Relief (PRR).

It is increasingly common for taxpayers to own more than one home, and there are a number of important considerations for homeowners. An individual, married couple, or civil partnership can only benefit from PRR on one property at a time. However, it is possible to choose which property benefits from the CGT exemption when it is sold by making an election.

To nominate a property as your main home, you must write to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), specifying the full address of the home you want to nominate. All owners of the property must sign the letter. If your combination of homes changes, you must make a new nomination within two years of the change. You must also have lived in the house as your main or only residence at some point in the past.

Special rules apply for overseas properties and for non-UK residents. Since 6 April 2015, an overseas property can only be nominated if you lived in it for at least 90 days in the tax year. It is important to carefully consider the timing and frequency of making or changing an election to ensure maximum relief.

Even if you own more than one home, certain periods always qualify for relief. You are entitled to PRR for the last nine months before you sell your property, even if you were not living there at the time. Other qualifying periods may include the first two years of ownership if the property was being built or renovated, or if you could not sell your previous home, provided you lived in it as your only or main residence within two years of acquiring it.

If you live abroad and sell your UK home, you may have to pay Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on any gain made since 5 April 2015. Only the portion of the gain made after 5 April 2015 is liable for tax. One of the most commonly used and valuable exemptions from CGT is Private Residence Relief (PRR), which applies when a property has been used as your main family home. Investment properties that have never been your main residence do not qualify for any CGT relief.

For non-UK residents, PRR can still apply, but there are additional conditions. You may not have to pay CGT for any tax year in which you, your spouse, or civil partner spent at least 90 days in the UK home, provided you meet the necessary conditions and nominate it as your only or main home when reporting the sale to HMRC.

Certain parts of the property, such as areas let out, used exclusively for business, or grounds larger than 5,000 square metres, may reduce the relief. You also automatically receive relief for the last nine months of ownership (or 36 months if you are disabled or in long-term care). 

Regardless of whether any tax is due, you must submit a Non-Resident CGT (NRCGT) return and pay any CGT within 60 days of the sale. Penalties apply if the return is late or tax is unpaid by the deadline. Even if there is no CGT to pay the return must still be submitted by the deadline.

A demerger involves splitting the trading activities of a single company or group into two or more independent entities. This can be facilitated by distributing the assets of a holding company to its shareholders.

There are special statutory demerger provisions that are designed to make it easier to divide and put into separate corporate ownership the trading activities of a company or group of companies. An exempt demerger will be deemed to occur under these provisions. As a result, the distribution is typically exempt from Income Tax and usually does not trigger any Capital Gains Tax, as the gains are effectively rolled over.

The provisions do not apply where a trading activity is to be sold or becomes owned by a person other than the existing member of the original company.

The provisions allow for the removal of the distribution charge in appropriate circumstances, making the distribution an ‘exempt distribution’. This applies to trading activities only. Companies that utilise the demerger provisions range from small private businesses to some of the largest public companies in the UK.

The legislation also provides for a clearance procedure. Under this a company that wants to demerge trading activities can obtain advance confirmation from HMRC that the distribution that will arise will be an exempt distribution.

There is usually no Capital Gains Tax (CGT) due on a property which has been used solely as the main family residence. Conversely, an investment property which has never been used as a private residence will not qualify for relief. This relief from CGT is commonly known as private residence relief.

There are a number of issues taxpayers that own more than one home should be aware. An individual, married couple or civil partnership can only benefit from CGT on one property at a time. However, it is possible to choose which property benefits from a CGT exemption by making an election.

This must be done by nominating one property as your main home by writing to HMRC and specifying (with the full address) which home you want to nominate. All owners of the property must sign the letter. If you want to nominate a home you must do this within 2 years of any relevant change. You must have also lived in the house as your main or only residence at some point in the past.

There are special rules for overseas property and for non-UK residents. It is important to carefully consider the timing and frequency of changing an election.

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.

When a couple is in the process of becoming separated or divorced it is unlikely that they are thinking about the tax implications of doing so. However, it is important that the tax consequences of the break-up are properly considered.

Whilst Income tax does not automatically cause an issue for separating couples, as it is an individually assessed tax, there are other taxes that need to be considered. For example, when a couple are together there is no Capital Gains Tax (CGT) payable on assets gifted or sold to your spouse or civil partner. However, if a couple separate and do not live together for an entire tax year or get divorced then CGT may be payable on assets transferred between ex-partners.

This effectively means that the optimum time for a couple to separate would technically be at the start of the tax year so that they would have up to a year to plan how to split their assets most tax efficiently. Obviously, in the real world most couples will have far more on their minds than deciding to get separated on a certain day, but these issues should be kept in mind.

It is also important to look at making a financial agreement that is agreeable to both parties. If no agreement can be reached, then going to court to make a 'financial order' will usually be required. The couple and their advisers should also give proper thought to what will happen to the family home, any family businesses as well as the Inheritance Tax implications of separation and / or divorce.

The Capital Gains Tax (CGT) reporting and payment date for UK residents that sell certain residential property changed from 6 April 2020. This change meant that any CGT due on the sale of a residential property needs to be reported and a payment on account of any CGT due made within 30 days of the completion of the transaction.

In practice, this change will only apply to the sale of a residential property that does not qualify for Private Residence Relief (PRR). The PRR relief applies to qualifying residential properly used wholly as a main family residence.

HMRC had announced that as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic they would adopt a light touch approach and there would be no late filing penalty for any transactions completed on or after 6 April 2020 to 1 July 2020 and reported up to 31 July 2020. However, interest continued to be charged if the tax remained unpaid after 30 days for all transactions from 6 April 2020.

This grace-period has now ended and landlords and second-home owners amongst others will receive a late filing penalty if capital gains are not reported within 30 calendar days of completion of the transaction. Taxpayers that fail to meet the deadline, will be subject to a £100 fine, rising to £300 or 5% of any tax due (whichever is greater) the longer the payment is outstanding.

Note, the payment date for any CGT due on residential property sales made before 6 April 2020 will be 31 January 2021.

The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak has written to the OTS (Office of Tax Simplification), asking the OTS to undertake a review of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) and aspects of the taxation of chargeable gains in relation to individuals and smaller businesses. In response to the request, the OTS has published a scoping document for the review, together with a call for evidence and an online survey.

The scope of review will include looking at the following areas: the overall scope of the tax and the various rates which can apply; the reliefs, exemptions and allowances which can apply, and the treatment of losses; the annual exempt amount and its interactions with other reliefs; the position of individuals, partnerships and estates in administration, and of unincorporated businesses and stand-alone owner-managed trading or investment companies; and interactions with other parts of the tax system such as Income Tax, Capital Allowances, Stamp Taxes and Inheritance Tax, including potentially different definitions for similar transactions/events.

The review will also consider a number of more specific issues, including clearance and claims procedures; chargeable gains on shares and securities; the acquisition and disposal of property; the practical operation of principal private residence relief; consideration of the issues arising from the boundary between Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax in relation to employees; valuations, record-keeping, calculating any tax payable and making returns, including claiming losses and the information HMRC have and can use to help them reduce administrative burdens, improve customer experience and ensure compliance.

The OTS are inviting response on the principles of CGT by 10 August 2020, and on the main section of the call for evidence by 12 October 2020. 

The Capital Gains Tax (CGT) reporting and payment date for UK residents that sell a residential property changed from 6 April 2020. This change means that any CGT due on the sale of a residential property needs to be reported and a payment on account of any CGT due made within 30 days of the completion of the transaction.

In practice, this change will only apply to the sale of any residential property that does not qualify for Private Residence Relief (PRR). The PRR relief applies to qualifying residential property used wholly as a main family residence.

HMRC has listed the following types of property sales that are affected:

• a property that you have not used as your main home;
• a holiday home;
• a property which you let out for people to live in;
• a property that you have inherited and have not used as your main home.

This new reporting requirement does not apply to sales of your home if the private residence relief was available for the period of your occupation. There can be penalties and interest if any CGT due is paid late. Note, the payment date for any CGT due on residential property sales made in the year before 6 April 2020 will be 31 January 2021.

There were also changes to the PRR rules which saw the final exempt period for CGT purposes being reduced from 18 months to 9 months – from 6 April 2020. This relief applies even if the homeowner was not living in the property when it was sold. The time period can be extended to 36 months under certain limited circumstances.