With an ever-increasing demand for housing and a limited amount of land available, you may be considering whether a property could be built in your garden. Clearly, this could be very financially rewarding for you; however, there are some important tax considerations that you should bear in mind. This article will consider the potential capital gains tax and income tax implications of 1) selling part of your garden to a property developer, 2) self-building a property in your garden for onward sale and 3) self-building a property in your garden to let to tenants. 1)Selling part of your garden to a property developer If you sell part of your garden to a property developer who will develop the land and later sell the developed proper...

Private Residence Relief (“PRR”) provides a relief from Capital Gains Tax (“CGT”) on the sale of a property which is or has been your only or main residence at some point during your period of ownership. Generally, if the property was your only or main residence for part of your ownership, only this part is relieved from CGT (in addition to the last 9 months of ownership which is treated as ‘deemed occupation’ in any case). However, there are also some specific instances where an absence from your only or main residence may still be eligible for PRR. Call us now on 0113 887 8432 to check which periods of your ownership are eligible for PRR and make sure you are claiming your maximum entitlement. Absences from a prop...

If you sell a property which is your only or main residence or has been at some point during your period of ownership, Private Residence Relief (“PRR”) will be available to exempt either all or part of the capital gains that arise on the sale of the property. Please see my previous articles for more details of this relief in general,  and how it can be calculated and claimed. In particular, there are specific rules that married couples and couples who are getting divorced should be aware of and this article will focus on these specific areas. Call us us on 0113 887 8432 now to chat through your circumstances. PRR and Married Couples PRR Election Where a married couple are living together, they can only have one qualifyin...

With more and more people currently working from home and being given the option to do so on a permanent basis, the idea of converting your spare room into a dream office to be used solely for work purposes may seem very appealing. However, you should be aware of the impact that this could have on your Capital Gains Tax (“CGT”) liability when you sell your property. This is because Private Residence Relief (“PRR”) is restricted if a room or area of a property is used exclusively for business purposes, i.e. for a trade, business, profession or vocation (with no private use at all). Call us us on 0113 887 8432 now if you want to understand whether this applies to you.  In summary, you will not be required to pay CGT if you sell...

Only/Main Residences If you sell a property which is your only residence and has been your only home throughout your period of ownership, you will not be required to pay Capital Gains Tax ("CGT") if a capital gain arises on the disposal. This is because Private Residence Relief ("PRR') is available for the full period of ownership, reducing any chargeable capital gains to nil. This also applies if you own several residences and have elected for one to be your main residence for PRR purposes (please see our previous article Principle Private Residence "PRR" Elections: Your Options for further details of this). Call us us on 0113 887 8432 now to find out if you are eligible for PRR.  Additional Residences Furthermore, if yo...

What is Principle Private Residence “PPR” Relief? If you sell a property which is your only or main residence or has been at some point during your period of ownership, Principle Private Residence (“PPR”) Relief will be available. This means that if a capital gain arises on the sale, PPR will exempt either all or part of the gain from Capital Gains Tax (“CGT”). Call us us on 0113 887 8432 now to discuss your circumstances.  PPR elections for individuals with more than one residence   If you have more than one private residence, you can make an election to nominate one of your residences as your PPR. This election must be made within two years of the date that you have a new combination of residences; for example, ...

Private residence relief (PRR) provides relief from capital gains tax (CGT) on the disposal of a property that has been used as your main home during the period of  ownership. In the recent First Tier Tribunal (FTT) case of Hashmi v HMRC, the tribunal found that Mrs Hashmi (the taxpayer) had failed to satisfy the burden of proof required to show that the properties that she lived in were her private residences, and therefore eligible for private residence relief. The case provides insight into the level of proof that is required to support a claim for private residence relief for a property. Background Between 2013 and 2015, the taxpayer lived in the following properties, for the following periods:  132 Shaggy Calf Lane unt...

In line with government guidelines, large swathes of UK workers are currently working from home.  Whilst there are a range of expenses you may be able to claim depending on your specific circumstances, this blog is aimed at those of you who own a limited company and are running the business from home. Rather than claiming the flat rate of £6 per week (£26 per month) under the simplified expenses rules, it may be more beneficial to instead rent out the personal work space in your home to your limited company. Under this arrangement, where the rent charged is equal to costs (see below), then no taxable rental profits will arise. Furthermore, provided that the rent is charged at no more than the market rate then the rental payments ma...

As of 6 April 2020, disposals of residential property and the Capital Gains Tax (“CGT”) charged must be reported and paid within 30 days of the completion date. This will be completed through the new CGT on UK property service, which will be accessible through www.gov.uk from today. The new rules apply to individuals, personal representatives and trustees (i.e. not companies). Prior to 6 April 2020, if a taxable gain arose when a UK resident disposed of an interest in UK residential property, this had to be reported through a Self-Assessment tax return. This meant that the disposal and Capital Gains Tax (“CGT”) had to be reported and paid by 31 January following the tax year in which the disposal took place. Under the new ru...

Private residence relief (“PRR”) was first introduced over 50 years ago and is one of the more widely known tax reliefs, providing relief from capital gains tax ("CGT") on the sale of your home. That said, there has been contention over the definition of the terms “period of ownership” and “periods of occupation”, both of which are crucial for determining if PRR can be applied. Last year we wrote a blog on the case of Higgins v HMRC where the Upper Tribunal held that the period of ownership for PRR purposes starts from the date the contract for purchase was signed, even though the property in question had not yet been built. Mr Higgins has appealed his case to the Court of Appeal who has now reversed the Upper Tribunal�...