Capital gains tax

aviation1863

I have a partner and we each own our own houses. We are looking to get married in May 2027. I intended to sell my house next year. If the house isn't sold by the time we get married, am I liable for Capital gains tax.

Keep_pedalling

Not if it is stil your main residence.

theartfullodger

A married couple may only have one nominated residence.  just living separately does not get you out of CGT.  Please check with HMRC if unsure.

https://www.taxinsider.co.uk/a-spouse-with-a-past-main-residence-relief-and-gifts-between-spouses-ta

Flugelhorn

I remember many decades ago my lawyer uncle telling me the day before my wedding that we would have to sell one of the houses within 2 years otherwise would be liable for CGT - no doubt this has changed though. We actually were living in both houses even after we married as our work contracts required us to live within a specific distance from the hospitals we worked at 

aviation1863

With reading what has been sent, I think I will be ok..I will however give the tax office a ring to confirm.

My situation is probably easy for them to get their heads around as we both live separately due to work and being in different parts of the country.
Each of the houses are our main residence individually, none have been rented out at anytime, nor are there any gaps in residency.
The sale of one of the houses will happen next year, hopefully within a month or two of marriage, and then we will declare one of the house as our main residence, when we decide where we live.
Thank you all for the insite of how it all works.

silvercar

From marriage, one of the homes needs to be considered your joint principal residence, either by you both choosing which one or on the basis of fact. This election needs to be done within the first two years of the marriage. If you are selling one soon after marriage, then it probably makes sense to choose that one as the CGT is calculated as a proportion of the total time it was your PPR vs length of ownership, so the non exempt time will be small and may even fall within your CGT allowance. Plus you are automatically exempt for the last 9 months of ownership on any property that was your PPR.