A couple of changes were made to capital gains tax (CGT) allowances and tax rates in the Spring Budget that will be of particular interest to anyone that owns residential property in addition to their own home.

Annual exemption

Each individual has a CGT annual exemption – an amount of capital gain that you can make without paying any tax on it. This is being reduced for 2024/25 to £3,000 (currently £6,000). This means that anyone selling capital assets, such as property or shares, will pay more tax.

Since we still have a few weeks before the start of the new tax year, if you are currently planning to sell any of your capital assets (and are able to do so before 6 April) then it may be worth giving some thought to the timing of when you do that. Please contact us and we will be happy to give you a personalised recommendation based on your overall tax situation.

Rates

The main rates of CGT remain at 10% if your gains fall into your unused basic rate band, or if you are disposing of a business that qualifies for Business Asset Disposal Relief. It is then 20% in most other cases, with the exception of residential property sales.

If you sell your own private residence then no CGT will be due, however if you sell a residential property that is not your own private residence then increased CGT rates will apply. From 6 April 2024, the residential property CGT rate will remain at 18% for gains falling into your unused basic rate band but will reduce to 24% (from 28%) for any residential property gains that fall outside of an individual’s basic rate tax band.

The government are hoping that this reduction will encourage more activity in the property market, benefiting those looking to move home or get on the property ladder.

If you are wondering how these changes could affect you, please feel free to contact us at any time and we will be pleased to give you a personalised analysis. Remember too that where CGT applies to a property disposal there can be tax payment and reporting requirements that need to be dealt with within 60 days of the completion date. So, please be sure to get advice in plenty of time.