Capital Gains Tax

Along with inheritance tax, capital gains tax is often referred to as a voluntary tax. With careful tax planning, it is often possible to reduce, avoid or delay payment of capital gains tax.

We are chartered accountants with specialist knowledge of capital gains tax.  We will advise you on reducing or delaying this tax on your shares or property, in the following ways.

Reducing the amount of capital gains tax assessable

• Claiming all valid tax deductions:
  • Professional fees,
  • Enhancement expenditure,
  • ‘Banked’ indexation allowance
• Claiming all eligible reliefs:
  • Entrepreneurs relief,
  • Principal private residence relief,
  • Lettings relief,
  • 31 March 1982 market value re-basing,
  • Set-off against current year or brought forward losses.
• Reviewing whether any elections could benefit you, such as nominating your principal private residence,
• Ensuring that any UK residential property disposals are reported, and tax paid, to HMRC within the 60 day time limit.
• Crystallising the paper loss on other assets liable to capital gains tax. This may be possible by submitting a negligible value election rather than through an actual sale,
• Considering emigrating overseas and becoming non-domiciled, for UK capital gains tax purposes,
• Maximising the use of your annual exemption,
• Examining whether trusts or pension funds could be used as a capital gains tax planning device,
• Considering changing the ownership of the asset. Particularly if your spouse has unused annual exemptions or current year or brought forward capital losses,
• Restructuring the asset held. This can be particularly useful within areas of corporate finance, where equities can be exchanged for loan notes, which can be redeemed over a number of years, taking advantage of more than one year’s worth of annual exemption.
• Careful Will planning, as death ‘washes out’ the pregnant capital gain in any asset.
• Ensuring entitlement to entrepreneurs relief upon the sale of your business.
• Advising on when best, for tax purposes, to exercise approved and unapproved share options.
• If a divorce is imminent, considering how to minimise any related CGT implications.

Delaying when the capital gains tax is payable

• Influencing the timing of the sale, including considering whether the disposal can be spread over more than one tax year, to maximise available reliefs and exemptions,
• Delaying payment of tax on the assessable capital gain by reinvesting the proceeds and claiming:
  • Rollover relief,
  • Holdover relief,
  • EIS deferral relief,
• For assets gifted or sold at undervalue, submitting a Gift Relief claim, to effectively delay payment of capital gains tax until when the asset is next disposed of.

The most popular capital gains tax service we offer is calculating your current exposure to this tax, then discussing your options for restructuring your affairs to reduce this tax.

Agreeing your capital gains tax liability with HMRC is principally achieved by completing the capital gains supplementary pages of a self assessment personal tax return, or via a capital gains on UK property account. Clients who are fearful that this gain may be investigated by HMRC may wish to consider taking out our tax investigation insurance.

Seek our advice in structuring your financial affairs and rest assured that you will not be paying any more capital gains tax than you absolutely have to. In addition, we shall complete all of the necessary paperwork for you and communicate with HMRC, to agree the liability, on your behalf.