Selling home in the UK - capital gains tax

arshavanpersie · 17-02-2010, 08:27 AM

Yes I will be getting some qualified advice from a UK accountant before I do anything but just wondering if anyone else has a similar story.

1) Moved here 6 years ago
2) Had to let out my property in the UK which I lived in at the time (its my primary and only residence)
3) Thinking of selling it this year once the present tenants moves out
4) I'm non-resident for tax purposes, though I do self-assessment each year because of the rental income

Would I need to pay capital gains on the sale?

fth · 17-02-2010, 08:58 AM

Don't have a similar story however I believe that if your gain arises in the UK, it is taxable in the UK. Hong Kong does not tax any gain.

HM Revenue & Customs: Capital Gains Tax relief on your own home
HM Revenue & Customs: The Non-resident Landlords Scheme

Judging from the above you may get a partial relief but not a full one for it being your main home when in the UK.

MovingIn07 · 17-02-2010, 10:50 AM

I know the answer to this question as it stood about 10 years ago - so if anything has changed since, you'd need to check.... but... there were 2 types of tax resident - non resident and not ordinarily resident (I think they were the terms).

Non resident was easy - you just leave. Not ordinarily resident is harder - you basically emigrate not expecting to come back (ie no long term connections any more). If you are not resident, you still paid capital gains tax, but not income tax. But no capital gains tax on a home, provided you lived in it for 6 months in the previous ? 5? years (abit fuzzy on that number). Not ordinarily resident meant no tax of any kind.

Hence when we left we became not ordinarily resident as well as not tax resident (because we emigrated) and when we sold our 2 investment (rented) flats paid no capital gains tax.

Hope this helps. Pls note disclaimer that things might have changed in the past 10 years!

fth · 17-02-2010, 12:39 PM

This may help to fill in the blanks

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/helpsheets/hs278.pdf

Geoff · 17-02-2010, 01:08 PM

I am pretty sure you do not have to pay capital gains tax on your primary residence, even if it is rented out. I doubt your resident/non resident status is an issue here.

MovingIn07 · 17-02-2010, 02:11 PM

Originally Posted by Geoff:

I am pretty sure you do not have to pay capital gains tax on your primary residence, even if it is rented out. I doubt your resident/non resident status is an issue here.

I think that is true for a certain period of time ... but it does lapse and the OP seems to have been away a while.