How soon after nominating our main residence to HMRC can we sell it for PPR relief?

How soon after nominating our main residence to HMRC can we sell it for PPR relief?

9:19 AM, 24th August 2023, About 8 months ago 8

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How soon after nominating our main residence to HM Revenue & Customs can we sell it and still get partial Private Residence Relief on the Capital Gains Tax?

We bought a London flat 25 years ago, lived there for 11.75 years then moved out to an apartment in a country house in Surrey when we retired and have let the London flat for the last 12.75 years. Our current tenants’ 12 month let expires 4th January 2024 and we have warned them that we will not be renewing the letting and that they have 5 months to find accommodation elsewhere.

We plan to move back into the London flat and nominate it formally to HM Revenue & Customs as “our main residence with effect from 5th January 2024 in accordance with section 222(5) Taxation of Capital Gains Act 1992” and then sell it in due course, ideally before the end of the tax year so as to benefit from the 2 x £6,000 capital gains tax exemptions, The only problem with that is the HM Revenue & Customs Capital Gains manual says the nomination letter has to be sent to “an officer of the Board” but does not supply any address or indicate what evidence of previous residence and letting is required for the nomination to be accepted.

We already have a buyer lined up so is there anything in the legislation specifying how long we have to be in residence after nominating it to HMRC as our main residence before we can sell it and still benefit from partial Private Residence Relief on the Capital Gains Tax.

I usually go skiing in the USA in January and February but my wife is looking forward to easy access to London theatres and concerts again and presumably only one of us has to be physically present to count for any required period of residence?

Editors Note:

Please see HMRC’s PPR relief CGT calculator >> https://www.gov.uk/tax-relief-selling-home

Private Residence Relief

You do not pay Capital Gains Tax when you sell (or ‘dispose of’) your home if all of the following apply:

  • you have one home and you’ve lived in it as your main home for all the time you’ve owned it
  • you have not let part of it out – this does not include having a lodger
  • you have not used a part of your home exclusively for business purposes (using a room as a temporary or occasional office does not count as exclusive business use)
  • the grounds, including all buildings, are less than 5,000 square metres (just over an acre) in total
  • you did not buy it just to make a gain

If all these apply you will automatically get a tax relief called Private Residence Relief and will have no tax to pay. If any of them apply, you may have some tax to pay.

Find out if you’re eligible for Private Residence Relief.


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Comments

Tim Rogers

10:14 AM, 24th August 2023, About 8 months ago

From memory, which may not be 100% accurate now, there was a time you could move into a property for 6 months and then sell without any CGT. But those days are long gone.

Nowadays HMRC will apply CGT to a property proportional to all the years it was let, ( and I think empty before sale or between lets). I no longer recall the details of the calculation, nor do I recall how they deal with times of property value drop and rise within the period of letting as opposed to the whole span of ownership.

To be certain, I'd suggest you discuss with an accountant who knows this area, if that's outside your budget, then HMRC are actually quite helpful on the subject.

Emma Roodenberg

10:38 AM, 24th August 2023, About 8 months ago

Hello, from my experience with a similar situation - capital gains is calculated over the whole span of ownership and the HMRC will have your tax returns from rental income for the period you rented it for so they will have a clear picture of the situation. The Residence relief will apply for the periods you lived in the property (and I think the last 9 months of ownership) - again as a percentage of the overall. There are many deductibles - including purchase costs such as solicitors fees etc and for any major building works added to the property and the costs of selling the property. I don’t think moving back into the property will give you any advantage at all as it will be such a small percentage of overall additional time. If you have a buyer I would just go ahead and do the deal asap. However I am NOT a professional! So please get a professional option. Good luck!

Olls63

10:40 AM, 24th August 2023, About 8 months ago

I would say it is hardly worth bothering about. You have said that you may only be there for 3 months, that is nothing compared to the nearly 13 Years it has been let.

Judith Wordsworth

10:52 AM, 24th August 2023, About 8 months ago

Well worth moving back in. Any money is better in your pocket than the Treasury's.
Legally as soon as it's your main residence. I believe, but practically would be 6-12 months. But it may well take that time to get a buyer and complete on the conveyance.
CGT allowance drops to £3k next April. Then likely to be gone altogether, but nothings been said by any political party.

Speak to an accountant who specialises in PPR.

AnthonyJames

15:01 PM, 24th August 2023, About 8 months ago

You used to get the last 3 years in PPR relief, provided you genuinely moved back in and re-established a property as your real home. People used to go through all sorts of contortions to get the 3 years but HMRC challenged length and quality of stay. There are now numerous Tribunal cases where 3 or 6 months was really not good enough, *especially* if you already have a buyer lined up!

" How can you claim, Mr and Mrs X, that you were re-establishing the flat as your new home, when Dr Y had already agreed to buy it?"

Get professional advice, but for your final 9 months of PPR relief + the time you live there I'd say you need to live there for at least a year, have a cast-iron reason for moving, change your GP, your dentist, all your utility bills and have receipts proving a normal pattern of daily living. Then it might be worth doing, but do you want to disrupt your life that much?

PAUL BARTLETT

0:01 AM, 25th August 2023, About 8 months ago

Search HS283 for the details and help to work it out.

Mitesh Gosai

9:17 AM, 25th August 2023, About 8 months ago

You dont need to move back in. Of the 25 years of ownership, 12.5 that you lived in it you will get relief plus last 9 months of ownership. For sake of simplicity let's round down to 50%, therefore your capital gains liability above the threshold is reduced by 50%. If you move back in then sure, the longer you are in there will be added as percentage of how long you occupied it for and therefore have reduction in tax but you will have to decide for yourself what works out better for you personally

Paul Lucke

13:41 PM, 1st September 2023, About 8 months ago

Thank you everyone for your input. I had been ploughing through HS283 and I had come to the same conclusion as Mitesh Gosai above (Thanks, Mitesh!) but I wondered if there were any Property 118 readers in the same situation who had actually been through the process themselves recently and could confirm it from experience. Thank you Emma Greenburg for that. I am a bit of a cheapskate so I will now follow Tim Rogers advice and ask HMRC directly if they will confirm the advice so kindly given here and report back to you all. I have in the meantime found confirmation that the correct address to write to is "Self Assessment, HM Revenue and Customs, BX9 1AS"

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