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imagegrill
10-08-2008, 17:05 PM
Hi, new to this forum. I found when trying to research my CGT liability.
We brought the house (joint owned with my wife) in May 2003. I then took an ex-pat position with my employer in Feb 2007 and have rented out my house since then. Until the renting, the house was our PPR. I am due to finish my ex-pat position in May 2010 and will be returning to the UK.
I know any CGT is liable at 18% after each individual limit is taken into acount (2 * £9200). However is the CGT on the whole profit or just the profit as a percentage of the years we rented is out. That is 3.25 years form 7 if we chose to sell when we came back. What happens if we move back into the property, will we still have to pay CGT on the rental years when we sell? :confused:
Now I have a few options and I am trying to work out the best tax wise but I need some advise as to where my tax liability is. So I have listed my option below:

1) Sell at the end of the current rental agreement with my tenants (Jan 2009). This means the house would have been owned by us for 5.66 years and rented for 2. I don't think there is CGT is pay here.

2) Rent for a further year and sell at the end of that rental agreement. House would be owned for 6.66 years and rented for 3. Again I don't think that CGT is payable here, but there pay be an issue if contracts are exchanges after the 3 years rentel period. Comments anyone?

3) Rent until we are due back in the UK (May 2010) and move back into the house. What are the CGT implications here?

The selling part all becomes more complicated when trying to work out the housing market (poor I know at the moment, but things change). At the moment, with property prices as they are we would stand to profit by 70K, assuming we could find a buyer.
Out objective was always to sell the house on our return and buy a larger house.
I would appreciate any help with the rules to the 3 options above. Knowing the rules will obviously help me to make most informed decision for the future!

Thanks!

Paul

TaxationPete
10-08-2008, 18:36 PM
Read IR 283 on the HMRC web site. Your property is exempt form CGT for 36 months after you left it and then Letting relief will cover another few years. However, If you moved abroad for work the property remains your PPR indefinitely if you return to live in the property when you return. If you return to the UK but the job is not within commuting distance of the property then it can still qualify for complete PPR exemption. With this information perhaps you should repost your question. Regards Peter

imagegrill
16-08-2008, 07:40 AM
Not sure what happened, I posted a reply back on Tuesday for this, however is didn't stick for whatever reason!!

Ok, so our worst case situation would be this:

We return to the UK in May 2010. and sell the house within 6 months. This would mean we have owned the house for 77 months, and let it out for 40 months.
From what I can make out form IR283 it seems I would get full releif as I moved abroad for work. However it is not totally clear if letting the house during that time still qualifies me for total relief.
Can someone confirm?

Thanks!

Paul

TaxationPete
16-08-2008, 08:19 AM
Please read this link carefully. It directly applies to you.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/cg4manual/cg65041.htm
Regards Peter