How much is capital gains on house

furndire

Bit of a tricky situation for my cousin. She bought a house years 35 years ago which she rents out on short term tenancy, as she works out of the country. She is now 72, and thinks that maybe next year she will have to come back home to live. The house is too big, and so probably will need to sell it to buy somewhere smaller. How long does she need to live in it so that she will not need to pay capital gains on the proceeds?

pollypenny

I think it's three years. However, she should seek professional advice.

There is a sliding scale and she can offset costs of maintenance etc.

alanq

I think it is 3 years maximum NOT to have lived in it.

I doubt that CGT will be completely avoidable. At best any gains while it was her main residence + 3 years will be tax free.

furndire

Unfortunatley it was only her main residence for 1 year - so looks like she'll be stuck for a while.

getmore4less

If currently non resident for tax purposes then look at selling before returning there may be extra reliefs.

furndire

Unfortunately not an option.

Biggles

furndire wrote: »

Unfortunately not an option.

Why not?

Is she resident somewhere where she might have some UK taxation exemption?

furndire

She's worked out in the Middle East for 30 + years, but paid all her NI etc here, but rented the house out & paid tax on rents etc.

Agapanthus

I may be misremembering this, but I have an idea that if she "lives in it" (i.e. it's her main residence) for six months before selling there's a tax advantage. She should take professional advice - it could be well worth it.

jennifernil

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/cgt/property/sell-own-home.htm

some info here.

furndire

That's interesting - I've passed on info to her