What’s new from 6 April 2019

The non-residents capital gains tax (NRCGT) rules have been extended to include non-residential property. The rules now apply to direct and indirect disposals of interests in all UK land (i.e. both residential and commercial).

A direct disposal is a disposal of land, whereas an indirect disposal is a disposal of shares in a company (whether the company is UK resident or not) and at least 75% of the value of the shares is derived from UK land. This briefing note covers the rules surrounding direct disposals for individuals and further advice should be sought for disposals by non-UK resident companies.

Background

The NRCGT rules were introduced on 6 April 2015 and apply to disposals of residential properties from this date. Only the gain arising after 5 April 2015 is chargeable and there are different ways of calculating the gain depending upon the individual’s circumstances.

The new rules now extend NRCGT to cover gains on commercial property, but only to the extent that the asset has increased in value since 5 April 2019.

Compliance

All persons making a NRCGT disposal have 30 days following the conveyance of the property (not the date of exchange) to submit an on line NRCGT Return to HMRC. A return must be filed even if there is no tax payable or the property is sold at a loss.

Late filing and payment penalties may be charged if the 30 day deadline is missed.

The Return must include a calculation of the chargeable gain or allowable loss and the tax due must be paid within 30 days of conveyance (i.e. the same deadline as the filing of the Return).

The rate of tax depends on whether the property is residential or non-residential and the level of the individual’s other income for the year.

The compliance regime has also been revised from 6 April 2019 to require all non-residents to make a payment on account of the CGT due on the disposal, irrespective of whether or not the individual is within the Self-Assessment regime. 

Potential problem areas

Due to the short filing and payment deadline not all of the relevant information may be known within that timeframe. It may be necessary to include reasonable estimates in the computations and then amend the Return when the actual details are available. In addition, it may not be possible to correctly calculate the amount of tax payable because the rate of CGT depends on an individual’s UK taxable income for the whole tax year and this may not be known at the time of submitting the return.

How we can help

We would be happy to calculate the capital gains tax position on the sale of the UK property and advise upon which method of calculation is most beneficial for your client. We can also file the NRCGT Return with HMRC.

Should you wish to discuss this in further detail please contact a member of our Professional Practice Team on 01772 821021.