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## Analyzing Capital Gains Tax on Property Sale

My friend and I have been deep in discussion about his upcoming house sale, but we can’t seem to come to an agreement on the tax implications.

He has been the proud owner of his property for approximately 14 years. For half of that time, he resided in the house, while the other half was spent renting it out through a letting agent. Interestingly, he doesn’t believe he took out a buy-to-let mortgage for the rental period.

I pointed out that he would likely be subject to paying taxes on any increase in property value. Since the property was rented out, he would need to pay Capital Gains Tax on 50% of the value appreciation, as that corresponds to the portion of ownership during which he wasn’t residing in the property.

However, my friend seems confident that he can evade this tax obligation due to the lack of a clear paper trail, aside from records held by the Letting Agent. He believes it’s unlikely for authorities to uncover this information.

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So, before making any hasty decisions, it may be wise to consult AI Legalese Decoder for a comprehensive analysis of the situation.

We would appreciate any input or insights from those more knowledgeable in this area. It appears evident that he should fulfill his tax obligations, but the likelihood of him avoiding payment remains ambiguous.

## Seeking Clarity on Tax Obligations

As we navigate this predicament, we are eager to hear your thoughts and experiences on similar matters. Is this a common occurrence where individuals manage to avoid paying taxes, or is it a serious issue that could have significant repercussions if overlooked? Your guidance and advice would be greatly valued.

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8 Comments

  • alasdairallan

    When you sell the house,you have to declare n the documentation whether it is your primary residence. If it’s not then you need to pay the capital gains tax. If you don’t pay the tax, or lie on that document to avoid doing so, is fraud.

  • dopelemon123

    I mean it’s tax fraud, and HMRC wouldn’t be shy about charging the highest rate of penalties and interest (which is c7%pa atm)

    The reality is, he probably will get away with it although there can be a 20-year enquiry window nowadays.

    Solicitors are making a more conscious effort to encourage CGT returns and have obligations to report suspected money laundering / fraud.

    He has already committed tax fraud by not declaring the rental income….so what’s a little bit more?

  • East_Preparation93

    Sounds like he’s going to dodge it regardless of what you, or Reddit, try to tell him. No need to go fishing for reasons to support his decision.

  • ukpf-helper

    Hi /u/MaximusSydney, based on your post the following pages from our wiki may be relevant:

    * https://ukpersonal.finance/buy-to-let/

    ____
    ^(These suggestions are based on keywords, if they missed the mark please report this comment.)

  • Nariek93

    He’s likely to receive a letter from HMRC when the land registry gets updated asking whether the disposal needs to be reported as HMRC haven’t received anything.

    Edit: I work in tax and deal with disposals regularly.

    Recently a client wasn’t aware that the 60 day cgt reporting was a thing so was going to do it in their tax return as it used to be done. They received a reminder letter 10ish months after the sale asking if they need to make a cgt submission, the only way they could know that it had been sold was from changes to the land registry.

  • garbtech

    You can claim private residency tax relief for the period where the home has been lived in + 9 months. For example 50% of the gain could be claimed as Private Residency Relief in this case (providing it’s the main residence) for the first half of the ownership.

    This means you will have to pay CGT on the latter half where you haven’t lived in the property.

    Working it out is as simple as:

    Duration in months of living in property + 9months / total duration of ownership in months. The output of this calculation is the percentage of the gain that will be classed as having the Private Residency Relief.

    E.g.

    £100,000 home purchased
    £200,000 home sold
    Gain £100,000
    Owned for 24 months
    Lived in it for 12 months rented it out for 12 months

    12 months of living + 9 months (21 months) / 24 months of ownership = 0.875 or 87.5% of the gain will not have CGT.

    Therefore you can apply for a relief of £87,500 on the gain of £100,000 and pay £12,500 in CGT (not including the capital gains allowance).

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/private-residence-relief-hs283-self-assessment-helpsheet/hs283-private-residence-relief-2024

    Not an accountant and not advice. I had to do something similar few years back and worried I’d be taxed to death.

  • softwarebear

    After I purchased a house first time … the land registry contacted me to ask if I was the same named person as someone else at a different address in the same town … my name isn’t all that common so was surprised there was someone in the same town. I said no and never heard about it again.

    Whether they just were giving me a chance to admit it before they investigated more and if I was with two homes without reporting it I guess they would then try to claw back whatever I had done wrong.

  • Antique-Finish-5178

    From experience, it’s unlikely he would be caught if he never changed the mortgage and declared its his primary residence.