# Capital Gains Tax



## Expatski (Jul 23, 2015)

If a dual nationality expat from the UK was living in an apartment in Canada for 12 years, would the sale of an apartment in the UK be liable to CGT and if so where?

If that same expat kept the apartment in Canada but moved back to the UK and sold the above said UK apartment, where would CGT be payable?

Do you become a UK resident the moment you set foot in the UK or is there a grace period in which you are still considered non-resident for the purposes of selling an asset?

Trying to decide what is best, sell before returning or sell once there.

Thank you for any help.


----------



## Dunedin (Aug 12, 2013)

Here are some initial comments that may assist

Selling as a non-resident
If you sell your UK property while non-resident you will pay UK tax under the NRCGT rules. You can see an introduction to these rules on HMRC website
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/capital...nts-uk-residential-property#CGT-workout-gains

Selling as a resident
If you sell your UK property while resident you will pay UK tax on the gain. However, you may be able to claim main residence relief, if you used it as a main residence before you moved to Canada. If you went abroad to work in Canada and you use the property again as a main residence before you sell it, the main residence relief could exempt a large part of your gain. There are a lot of details around the working of the main residence relief.

Other points
You would need to consider the rules in Canada, and any double taxation relief.

UK tax would be at the higher rates of 18%/28% that apply to gains on domestic property, rather than the usual 10%/20% rates.


----------



## 405me (Jul 29, 2020)

How about oversea property, Is CGT required if i am UK tax resident?
In addition, my oversea property was bought before going to UK as resident and the property was sold after my family migrated to UK. so the chargeable tax should be:
a) selling price - buying price:
b) selling price - valuation of the property (the date of migration); or
c) selling price


----------



## NickZ (Jun 26, 2009)

You're asking people to answer a fairly vague question.

Normally real estate is taxed in the country of the property.

The OP was asking about Canada. Canada has deemed disposition for people moving but there is no CGT on primary residence. 

If you're from a different country you'd have to check on deemed disposition.


----------



## nikkisizer (Aug 20, 2011)

Hello 405me,

As a UK tax resident you are liable to CGT when disposing of an overseas property.

Unfortunately it is not as simple as a) b) or c).

Your individual circumstances would need to be looked at in detail in order to determine which computation method would be of most benefit to you.


----------

