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Capital Gains - Plea for Help


2003 Feb - bought house with then husband for £305,000
2008 Dec - We separated, I left and moved into privately rented accommodation - Court advised it didn't need to be sold so he had somewhere for the kids to stay when they were with him as per Residency Schedule
2010 Oct - We divorced - I continue to rent - don't earn enough for 2 mortgages, he was unemployed. Interest-only mortgage paid for by DWP
2021 June - he agrees to sell - I'm STILL renting. Financial Consent Order from Court states I will get £25,000 he will get approx £40,000 based on expected Sale Price and after his secured debts - (obtained after I left) have been paid.I am satisfied with this after so long and wanting to be no-longer tied to him financially.
2022 Dec - House sells for £590,000. (£90k more than anticipated the year before) Somehow secured debts "disappeared" He receives £161,000. I receive £25,000 - He privately rents, I am still privately renting
2024 - I receive a letter from HMRC saying I potentially should have paid Capital Gains tax and now owe interest and a fine will be added as CGT return was not submitted within 60 days (I honestly had no idea I needed to, conveying solicitor didn't mention it during sale) - waited 14 years to receive some equity, financially crippled by his debts being linked to me via mortgage.
I still have not bought another property, continue to rent.
I complete HMRC CGT calculator online which says nothing due. Begin to complete the Return online but get concerned it's more complex and seek support from local accountant.
2025 Jan - Accountant advises my liability is on £70,969, after Private Residence Relief and CG Allowance because I was technically still 50% owner and it wasn't my main home. Ex owes nothing because it was his.
This feels drastically unfair, when I received £25,000. Do I really have to pay 18% tax on circa £45,000 I didn't receive?
Any information very desperately appreciated. Feeling physically sick
Comments
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ThisCannottBeRight said:Hi all. Please can anyone confirm my situation? I have received an email from the accountant I asked to help today and just feels terribly wrong and the figures way out of reach in terms of payment.
2003 Feb - bought house with then husband for £305,000
2008 Dec - We separated, I left and moved into privately rented accommodation - Court advised it didn't need to be sold so he had somewhere for the kids to stay when they were with him as per Residency Schedule
2010 Oct - We divorced - I continue to rent - don't earn enough for 2 mortgages, he was unemployed. Interest-only mortgage paid for by DWP
2021 June - he agrees to sell - I'm STILL renting. Financial Consent Order from Court states I will get £25,000 he will get approx £40,000 based on expected Sale Price and after his secured debts - (obtained after I left) have been paid.I am satisfied with this after so long and wanting to be no-longer tied to him financially.
2022 Dec - House sells for £590,000. (£90k more than anticipated the year before) Somehow secured debts "disappeared" He receives £161,000. I receive £25,000 - He privately rents, I am still privately renting
2024 - I receive a letter from HMRC saying I potentially should have paid Capital Gains tax and now owe interest and a fine will be added as CGT return was not submitted within 60 days (I honestly had no idea I needed to, conveying solicitor didn't mention it during sale) - waited 14 years to receive some equity, financially crippled by his debts being linked to me via mortgage.
I still have not bought another property, continue to rent.
I complete HMRC CGT calculator online which says nothing due. Begin to complete the Return online but get concerned it's more complex and seek support from local accountant.
2025 Jan - Accountant advises my liability is on £70,969, after Private Residence Relief and CG Allowance because I was technically still 50% owner and it wasn't my main home. Ex owes nothing because it was his.
This feels drastically unfair, when I received £25,000. Do I really have to pay 18% tax on circa £45,000 I didn't receive?
Any information very desperately appreciated. Feeling physically sickI have come across this many many times - divorce solicitors and barristers rarely look at the tax position of the parties.My one question is how he was able to obtain secured loans on a property in joint names.0 -
you can choose to treat the period after you ceased to reside in the home as if it had been you only or main residence where:
- the sale is made under a formal divorce or separation agreement or court order
- in between you ceasing to reside in the home and the sale to someone other than your former spouse or civil partner, the property continues to be the only or main residence of your former spouse or civil partner
- you have not nominated another property to be treated as your only or main residence for the period between your moving out and the disposal of your former matrimonial or civil partnership home
However, if you do claim relief for the period between moving out and the sale, you will not be entitled to Private Residence Relief on any other home for that period, so this may not be the best choice in every case.
HS281 Capital Gains Tax civil partners and spouses (2024) - GOV.UK
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Bookworm105 said:
you can choose to treat the period after you ceased to reside in the home as if it had been you only or main residence where:
- the sale is made under a formal divorce or separation agreement or court order
- in between you ceasing to reside in the home and the sale to someone other than your former spouse or civil partner, the property continues to be the only or main residence of your former spouse or civil partner
- you have not nominated another property to be treated as your only or main residence for the period between your moving out and the disposal of your former matrimonial or civil partnership home
However, if you do claim relief for the period between moving out and the sale, you will not be entitled to Private Residence Relief on any other home for that period, so this may not be the best choice in every case.
HS281 Capital Gains Tax civil partners and spouses (2024) - GOV.UK
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Nomunnofun1 said:You found this a lot quicker than I did - could be transformative IF the first statement applies in this case.
Implications of "mesher orders" for example given that OP mentions children and the fact she has rented her new home not owned it
I am also going to reinstate my previously deleted comment that CGT is based on beneficial ownership, not legal ownership, so if the settlement was for £25k from the house sale then she can't be taxed on her legal ownership share (50%?)
0 -
Nomunnofun1 said:ThisCannottBeRight said:Hi all. Please can anyone confirm my situation? I have received an email from the accountant I asked to help today and just feels terribly wrong and the figures way out of reach in terms of payment.
2003 Feb - bought house with then husband for £305,000
2008 Dec - We separated, I left and moved into privately rented accommodation - Court advised it didn't need to be sold so he had somewhere for the kids to stay when they were with him as per Residency Schedule
2010 Oct - We divorced - I continue to rent - don't earn enough for 2 mortgages, he was unemployed. Interest-only mortgage paid for by DWP
2021 June - he agrees to sell - I'm STILL renting. Financial Consent Order from Court states I will get £25,000 he will get approx £40,000 based on expected Sale Price and after his secured debts - (obtained after I left) have been paid.I am satisfied with this after so long and wanting to be no-longer tied to him financially.
2022 Dec - House sells for £590,000. (£90k more than anticipated the year before) Somehow secured debts "disappeared" He receives £161,000. I receive £25,000 - He privately rents, I am still privately renting
2024 - I receive a letter from HMRC saying I potentially should have paid Capital Gains tax and now owe interest and a fine will be added as CGT return was not submitted within 60 days (I honestly had no idea I needed to, conveying solicitor didn't mention it during sale) - waited 14 years to receive some equity, financially crippled by his debts being linked to me via mortgage.
I still have not bought another property, continue to rent.
I complete HMRC CGT calculator online which says nothing due. Begin to complete the Return online but get concerned it's more complex and seek support from local accountant.
2025 Jan - Accountant advises my liability is on £70,969, after Private Residence Relief and CG Allowance because I was technically still 50% owner and it wasn't my main home. Ex owes nothing because it was his.
This feels drastically unfair, when I received £25,000. Do I really have to pay 18% tax on circa £45,000 I didn't receive?
Any information very desperately appreciated. Feeling physically sickI have come across this many many times - divorce solicitors and barristers rarely look at the tax position of the parties.My one question is how he was able to obtain secured loans on a property in joint names.0 -
Bookworm105 said:Nomunnofun1 said:You found this a lot quicker than I did - could be transformative IF the first statement applies in this case.
Implications of "mesher orders" for example given that OP mentions children and the fact she has rented her new home not owned it
I am also going to reinstate my previously deleted comment that CGT is based on beneficial ownership, not legal ownership, so if the settlement was for £25k from the house sale then she can't be taxed on her legal ownership share (50%?)0 -
I don’t understand why exes share entitlement increases from £40k to £161k between June 2021 and December 2022.Interesting to read the AR agreement on this.0
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Nomunnofun1 said:I don’t understand why exes share entitlement increases from £40k to £161k between June 2021 and December 2022.Interesting to read the AR agreement on this.0
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Nomunnofun1 said:I don’t understand why exes share entitlement increases from £40k to £161k between June 2021 and December 2022.Interesting to read the AR agreement on this.
When house actually sold late the following year, buyers paid £590,000 and he had somehow managed to remove the debts from the title. I had no idea of this until solicitors sent me the completion statement.....
Biggest error was not insisting the Court calculated a percentage to come to me, rather than a fixed amount. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I've still no idea how he cleared/removed the debts, he remains unemployed.0 -
ThisCannottBeRight said: Biggest error was not insisting the Court calculated a percentage to come to me, rather than a fixed amount.However, given the rules on sales following divorce/separation if I were OP I would want to check that the accountant understands the rules, has reviewed the relevant divorce/separation orders and consents and has given a coherent explanation for their conclusion that CGT is due - failing that I would find an accountant who knows what they are doing before throwing myself to the mercy of HMRC.
CG65330 - Private residence relief: separation, divorce or dissolution of civil partnership: jurisdiction of the courts - HMRC internal manual - GOV.UK1
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