Category: Capital Gains Tax

Gift Hold-Over Relief is effectively a deferral of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) when assets are given away (including certain shares) or sold for less than they are worth to help benefit the buyer. The relief means that any gain on the asset is 'Held-Over' until the recipient of the gift sells or disposes of them. This is done by reducing the donee's acquisition cost by the amount of the held-over gain.

The person gifting a qualifying asset is not subject to CGT on the gift. However, CGT may be payable where the asset is sold for less than it’s worth. Gifts between spouses and civil partners do not trigger capital gains. A claim for the relief must be made jointly with the person to whom the gift was made.

If you are giving away business assets you must:

• be a sole trader or business partner, or have at least 5% of voting rights in a company (known as your 'personal company')
• use the assets in your business or personal company

You can usually get partial relief if you used the assets partly for your business.

If you are giving away shares, then the shares must be in a company that's either:

• not listed on any recognised stock exchange
• your personal company

The company's main activities must be in trading, for example providing goods or services, rather than non-trading activities like investment.

In most cases, there is no Capital Gains Tax (CGT) to be paid on the transfer of assets to a spouse or civil partner. There is, however, still a disposal that has taken place for CGT purposes effectively at no gain or loss on the date of the transfer. When the asset ultimately comes to be sold, the gain or loss will be calculated based on the original cost when the asset was first owned by the spouse or civil partner.

There are a few exceptions that couples should be aware of when the relief does not apply. This relates to the use of goods which are sold on by the transferee’s business and for couples that were separated and not living together for the entire tax year when the assets were transferred. Spouses or civil partners that lived together at any point in the tax year when the assets were transferred can still benefit from these rules. If a transfer did not qualify then the asset must be retrospectively valued at the date of the transfer and the transferor is liable for any gain or loss.

There are similar rules for assets that are gifted to charities. However, CGT may be due where an asset is sold to a charity for more than was paid for it and less than the market value. The gain in this case would be calculated based on what the charity paid rather than the market value of the asset.

Capital Gains Tax is a tax on the profit when you sell (or ‘dispose of’) something (an ‘asset’) that’s increased in value.

Capital Gains Tax (CGT) is normally charged at a flat rate of 20% 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 10%. Once the total of taxable income and gains exceed the higher rate threshold, the excess will be subject to 20% CGT.

A higher rate of CGT applies to gains on the disposal of residential property (apart from a principal private residence). The rates are 18% for basic rate taxpayers and 28% for higher rate taxpayers. Again, if the gain pushes a taxpayer into the higher rate, then CGT will be payable at both rates.

The usual due date for paying any CGT owed to HMRC is the 31 January following the end of the tax year in which the capital gain was made. However, since April 2020, any CGT due on the sale of a residential property needs to be paid within 30 days. In practice, this change only applies to the sale of residential property that does not qualify for Private Residence Relief (PRR).

There is also an annual CGT exemption for individuals that is currently £12,300. A husband and wife each have a separate exemption. Same-sex couples who acquire a legal status as civil partners are treated in the same way as married couples for CGT purposes.

If you are looking to know more Capital gains tax (CGT), please contact us.

The Capital Gains Tax (CGT) reporting and payment date for UK residents that sell a residential property changed with effect from 6 April 2020. This change means that any CGT due on the sale of a residential property now 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 only applies to the sale of a 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.

There can be penalties and interest charged if CGT due on the sale of a UK property is not paid within 30 days of the sale. 

Historically, the term bed and breakfasting (sale and repurchase) of shares referred to transactions where shares were sold and then bought back the next morning. This used to have Capital Gains Tax (CGT) benefits by crystallising a gain or a loss but is no longer tax effective over such a short period. The change to the rule occurred in 1998 when new legislation introduced special share matching rules. Under these rules there are limitations including a 30-day waiting period before the shares can be repurchased again.

However, it is possible, under certain circumstances, to use a modified bed and breakfasting type of arrangement to sell an asset only to buy it back again a short time later. A gain could be created to use the annual exempt amount, or a non-resident may bed and breakfast their chargeable assets to establish a higher base cost before they enter the UK tax regime.

Proper advice should be taken before undertaking such transactions to ensure that all tax aspects have been considered. For example, for any bed and breakfast transaction to be effective, there must be a genuine transfer of beneficial ownership of the asset and the share matching rules must be met.

There are various methods at your disposal to reduce or delay the amount of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) when you sell a property that has been used for business purposes.

For example, Business Asset Rollover Relief allows for deferral of CGT on gains made when taxpayers sell or dispose of certain assets (including property) and uses all or part of the proceeds to buy new business assets. The relief means that the tax due on the gain of the property that has been sold is postponed. The amount of the gain is effectively rolled over into the cost of the new asset and any CGT liability is deferred until the new asset is sold. There are qualifying conditions that must be met to ensure entitlement to any relief.

If the main purpose of the business concerns buying and selling property, for example a property development or property trading business, then the business is not liable to CGT when a property is sold.  Instead, properties sold under the name of a Limited company will be liable to Corporation Tax and properties sold under the name of a sole trader or partner will be liable to Income Tax. 

There are also special rules for limited companies that dispose of UK residential dwellings valued at over £500,000 and which are held in a ‘corporate envelope’ (e.g., a company). Qualifying gains made after 6 April 2019 are liable to Corporation Tax.

When you sell your primary family residence, also known as your only or main residence (HMRC refers to this as private residence relief), there is typically no capital gains tax (CGT) due.

However, there are important points to consider that can affect your entitlement to full CGT relief. These include the following:

Business use

There are special rules for business use of a private residence. Homeowners who work from home do not suffer any restriction to the relief where business use of the home is not related to a specific area, e.g., where a home office also doubles as a spare bedroom. Where part of the home is used exclusively for business purposes, then part of the proceeds from the sale of the house will relate to a chargeable rather than exempt use.

Main residence

It is increasingly common for taxpayers to own more than one home, and there are issues of which homeowners should be aware. An individual, married couple or civil partnership can only benefit from CGT relief on one property. It is possible to choose which property benefits from a CGT exemption but there are special rules which determine the timing and frequency of changing an election and these may need to be considered.

Letting Relief

Homeowners who lived in their home at the same time as tenants, may qualify for Letting Relief on gains they make when they sell the property. Letting Relief does not cover any proportion of the chargeable gain made while the home is empty.

Absences from the family home

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. The time can be extended to 36 months under certain limited circumstances. There are also special rules for homeowners who work or live away from home.

Most individuals hold cryptoassets (such as Bitcoin) as a personal investment, usually for capital appreciation in its value or to make purchases. 

HMRC is clear that these holdings will usually be subject to Capital Gains Tax (CGT) when: 

• selling tokens
• exchanging tokens for a different type of cryptoasset
• using tokens to pay for goods or services
• giving away tokens to another person (unless it is a gift to your spouse or civil partner)
• donating coins to charity 

To check if you need to pay CGT, you will need to work out your gain for each transaction. The way a gain is calculated is different if you sell tokens within 30 days of buying them. If the asset was acquired free of charge, then the market value at the time should be used to calculate the gain. 

Taxpayers can deduct certain allowable costs when working out their gain, including the cost of:

• transaction fees paid before the transaction is added to a blockchain
• advertising for a buyer or seller
• drawing up a contract for the transaction
• making a valuation so they can work out the gain for that transaction

If the taxpayer’s activity is trading, then Income Tax will take priority over CGT and will apply to profits (or losses). 

The UK Government has helped entrepreneurs flourish by offering Capital Gains Tax (CGT) reduction through Entrepreneurs Relief (ER). The same relief named as Business Asset Disposal Relief (BADR) after 6 April 2020.

However, the change in name does not affect the operation of the relief in itself. BADR applies to the sale of a business, shares in a trading company or an individual’s interest in a trading partnership.

Capital gains tax is due on the sale of assets (business, property etc.). With Entrepreneurs Relief (ER), disposal of assets up to the value of £10 million was taxed at 10%. Since April  2020, the asset sale ceiling has been reduced to £1 million and all sale proceeds over this figure are taxed at 20% or higher.

Where this relief is available CGT of 10% is payable in place of the standard rate. There are a number of qualifying conditions that must be met to qualify for the relief.

https://www.gov.uk/business-asset-disposal-relief

There are certain conditions which must be met for the disposal of shares in a company to be eligible for business asset disposal relief.

Have a look at our Capital Ganis Tax Services.

Throughout the period of two years ending with the date of disposal of the shares:

• the individual must have been an employee or officeholder in the company or any company within the group;
• the individual must own at least 5% of the company’s share capital; and
• the company must have been a trading company, or the holding company of a trading group. This means that any activities of a non-trading nature, such as holding investments, must not be substantial – understood to mean 20% of the company’s whole activities.

For an individual to satisfy the 5% shareholding condition they must own at least 5% of the ordinary share capital and by virtue of that holding the individual must be able to exercise at least 5% of the company’s voting rights.

In addition either:

• the individual must be beneficially entitled to at least 5% of the profits available for distribution to equity holders and to at least 5% of assets available for distribution to equity holders on a winding up; and/or
• in the event of a disposal of the whole of the ordinary share capital of the company, the individual would be beneficially entitled to at least 5% of the proceeds.

You can currently claim a total of £1 million in BADR over your lifetime. The £1m lifetime limit means you can qualify for the relief more than once. The lifetime limit may be higher if you sold assets before 11 March 2020.

Claims for BADR are made either through your Self-Assessment tax return or by filling in Section A of the Business Asset Disposal Relief help sheet. The deadline for claiming relief for the 2019-20 tax year is 31 January 2022.

If you are looking to know more about this relief, feel fee to book an appointment.