Property Sale, CGT Due?

TigerCGT

I am looking for some advice as I can't find the exact answer after scouring the internet!

I sole purchased my property (main residence in 2008). I lived in the property until 2011 at which point I moved overseas with my company for work (the property was rented a few months later).

 In 2014 I returned back from my overseas assignment and I ended the rental and moved back to my property (to be my main residence again).  Later in 2017 I bought half a share of a BTL house with my partner (and duly paid the second home stamp duty). BTL is still rented and no plans to change this.

I continued to live in my main residence until 2018 when I moved to another overseas assignment and the property has been rented ever since.

It is now likely that my overseas work will end this year and I will return to the UK and into my old main residence and become a UK tax resident again. I am unsure if I will have a job, I may not (not sure if this is relevant).

Assuming I move back in tax year 2024/5 it is likely I will want to sell my main residence later in the year (it isn't my forever home).

Questions I would like to be answered / I'm stuck on (as a UK tax resident):

Ø  When I sell my main residence (sole ownership) as a UK tax resident, given I have only rented my main residence when overseas for work (8.5 years in total), is any CGT due? (I have read S223(3) TCGA92 he PRR rules when overseas and to me this suggests not, specifically s223(3)(b) TCGA92).

Ø  Assuming I sold the property and no CGT is due, for my CGT calculation would I just submit this as £0?

Ø  How long do I need to live in the property after returning to the uk for it to become my main residence again? What supporting actions / documents are needed to prove this?

Ø  On selling my main residence that I have owned since 2008 I will replace my main residence by  buying a new property. This will result in me owning more than 1 property as I still own a 50% share of a BTL. I understand that as I am only replacing my main residence I will not have to pay the second home buyers stamp duty?

Any help much appreciated.

Jeremy535897

See example 7:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/private-residence-relief-hs283-self-assessment-helpsheet/hs283-private-residence-relief-2023
Assuming you meet the conditions, your gain should be exempt. As you wouldn't be selling when obliged to work abroad, you need a period of occupation as a main residence after your overseas employment ends. If you have no other address at which you could live, assuming the BTL remains let, it shouldn't require a particularly long period to evidence that. A council tax bill as main rather than second property, utility bill and entry on the electoral roll are useful evidence. If the gain is fully exempt you don't need to declare anything.

TigerCGT

Many thanks Jeremy, the plan would be to move back into the property so I would have Utility / Council Tax and Electoral roll when I moved in. My concern has been that as I wasn't provided overseas accommodation by employer I might not be eligible for full relief.

Thanks again for the example to.

Jeremy535897

It doesn't matter whether you provided your own overseas accommodation. What matters is where the duties of the employment were carried out.