Capital Gains Tax on UK property – how to avoid HMRC reporting issues

As you’re probably aware, the rules affecting Capital Gains Tax on uk property returns changed back in April 2021. Before then, you had up to 22 months from the date of sale to calculate, report and pay CGT to the taxman.

The new system is much less relaxed. Now, when you sell a property that’s not your main home, you have to calculate CGT, submit a return and pay the tax within 60 days. If you don’t, you could face both a penalty and interest on the outstanding sum.

Given how quickly HMRC wants you to submit CGT on uk property returns, you’d think the taxman would make it super easy to report and pay.

On the surface, it hasn’t been difficult to report and pay CGT. In theory, all you’ve had to do is log in to the ‘real time’ Capital Gains Tax service and submit your return.

Initially you could only use this service to report one property disposal per year. At a time when many buy-to-let landlords have been disposing of residential property, this meant a major hassle for some. The only way you could handle CGT returns on subsequent properties was to brave HMRC’s phone system on 0300 200 3300. If you were lucky, the ‘call waiting’ queue wouldn’t be too long.

Luckily, you can now use the online portal to submit multiple Capital Gains Tax uk property returns in any one year.

Making Capital Gains Tax uk property returns less hassle

If you do need to dispose of residential property in the coming months, we strongly recommend you talk to us. Our specialist CGT Residential Property Service is here to make sure you avoid penalties. It can also help you legitimately cut your tax bill.

Instead of facing a whole jumble of complex calculations, our CGT experts will unravel all your data and work out whether you qualify for any exemptions or reliefs. We’ll even make your CGT return on your behalf and deal with HMRC directly, saving you hours of hassle.

So, if you need to sell property in the new future, want to make sure you don’t pay too much CGT and would rather someone else handled the red tape, get in touch today about our CGT Residential Property Service. We’d be delighted to help you.