Looking to sell from overseas

Ryano2801

I have tried looking up this answer but i am confused by all the jargon and different answers depending on various stipulations so thought i'd ask in here;

I own a property in the UK, i bought it approx 3 years ago but have recently emigrated to Canada. Everything is very up in the air at the moment as i'm sure it is everywhere and i am locked into a 5 year fixed mortgage for now anyway, but if at the end of those 5 years i was still in Canada and decided i wanted to sell my home in the UK, could i easily do so? I was born and raised in the UK and live there for 30 years before making the move, i bought the house while in the UK etc etc.

Would i be expected to pay any extra tax if i was to sell it from overseas, even though i'm a British Citizen who has always paid taxes etc, however for the sake of tax purposes, i assume i would be a Canadian resident?

Any help with answering this would be appreciated.

[Deleted User]

Ryano2801 said:

I have tried looking up this answer but i am confused by all the jargon and different answers depending on various stipulations so thought i'd ask in here;

I own a property in the UK, i bought it approx 3 years ago but have recently emigrated to Canada. Everything is very up in the air at the moment as i'm sure it is everywhere and i am locked into a 5 year fixed mortgage for now anyway, but if at the end of those 5 years i was still in Canada and decided i wanted to sell my home in the UK, could i easily do so? I was born and raised in the UK and live there for 30 years before making the move, i bought the house while in the UK etc etc.

Would i be expected to pay any extra tax if i was to sell it from overseas, even though i'm a British Citizen who has always paid taxes etc, however for the sake of tax purposes, i assume i would be a Canadian resident?

Any help with answering this would be appreciated.

You might have a Capital Gains Tax liability depending on the gain as the property has not always been your primary residence. There may be Canadian taxes to consider too so you’d need to speak with an accountant well versed in the Canadian tax system to find out. 

In fact if you’ve only recently emigrated and don’t even know your tax status you should speak to an accountant. Did you complete a P85 for HMRC to tell them you’ve left the uk? Has the property been sitting empty since you left and is the plan to keep it empty until you sell? 

eddddy

Aside from the tax situation, you should be able to sell your UK property whilst living in Canada.  From past experience, the big challenge was ID verification for overseas sellers, but I think 'remote verification' has become easier as a result of COVID.

There might be some extra delays, because some documents will need original signatures, so they'll probably need to be couriered across.

davidmcn

eddddy said:

There might be some extra delays, because some documents will need original signatures, so they'll probably need to be couriered across.

Much simpler just to grant a power of attorney at the outset to your solicitor (or somebody else local) and they can deal with signing everything.

Ryano2801

Lover_of_Lycra said:

Ryano2801 said:

I have tried looking up this answer but i am confused by all the jargon and different answers depending on various stipulations so thought i'd ask in here;

I own a property in the UK, i bought it approx 3 years ago but have recently emigrated to Canada. Everything is very up in the air at the moment as i'm sure it is everywhere and i am locked into a 5 year fixed mortgage for now anyway, but if at the end of those 5 years i was still in Canada and decided i wanted to sell my home in the UK, could i easily do so? I was born and raised in the UK and live there for 30 years before making the move, i bought the house while in the UK etc etc.

Would i be expected to pay any extra tax if i was to sell it from overseas, even though i'm a British Citizen who has always paid taxes etc, however for the sake of tax purposes, i assume i would be a Canadian resident?

Any help with answering this would be appreciated.

You might have a Capital Gains Tax liability depending on the gain as the property has not always been your primary residence. There may be Canadian taxes to consider too so you’d need to speak with an accountant well versed in the Canadian tax system to find out. 

In fact if you’ve only recently emigrated and don’t even know your tax status you should speak to an accountant. Did you complete a P85 for HMRC to tell them you’ve left the uk? Has the property been sitting empty since you left and is the plan to keep it empty until you sell? 

Yes HMRC are aware of everything and I’ve done everything I’ve needed to do. 

I don’t *believe* I will have to pay capital gains tax for two years because of the fact it was my main residence up until emigrating in August, for the two years previous to that, it was my full time home but if I’m honest, this is where it starts to confuse me!