CGT on Abroad Property

[Tassotti]

I remember reading on here (probably from the guru Karonga) that one can nominate their foreign property as their main residence and avoid capital gains.

Is this true. Can anyone confirm?

Tass

[Tax Accountant]

I remember reading on here (probably from the guru Karonga) that one can nominate their foreign property as their main residence and avoid capital gains.

Is this true. Can anyone confirm?

Tass

It is a common mistake for people to read what they want to read and not what's actually written.

You cannot nominate any foreign property as your main residence.

But you can nominate your own foreign property which has been used as your residence, ie as a home, before qualifying for ''only or main residence PPR relief.''

Tax Office Capital Gains Tax manual states that ''a residence which is outside the United Kingdom may qualify for relief if the conditions explained in this chapter are met.''

For private residence relief to be available the dwelling house or land which has been disposed of must at some stage have been occupied as the only or main residence of the individual who has made the disposal.

If there are more than one residences, it is possible to nominate a secondary residence as the main residence for the purpose of PPR relief.

The word residence is not defined in the legislation. So the word should be given its ordinary meaning. For an individual this is the dwelling in which that person habitually lives: in other words his or her home. So whether a dwelling has actually been used as your home will depend on the exact facts of your case, especially if one is considering nominating a second home as a main home.

Ramnik