Following pressure from ICAEW and other professional bodies on the quality of guidance on reporting and paying capital gains tax on UK residential property, HMRC has developed a new question and answer helpsheet offering further clarity and pledged to update existing guidance.
The problems with capital gains tax (CGT) on UK residential property are well documented and cover lack of taxpayer awareness of the new obligation, problems with the service itself and inadequate guidance.
ICAEW’s Tax Faculty has been working with HMRC and other professional bodies to address these concerns and in response to the request for better guidance, HMRC has developed a helpsheet with questions and answers on common issues.
The helpsheet covers:
- Amendments and estimates. The circumstances in which amendments can be made and how to correct estimates.
- Repayments. Requests for repayment can made in the service when filing an amendment or subsequent return but the service does not yet allow bank details to be provided.
- Offsetting UK Property Disposal CGT. This issue is covered in more detail in a previous ICAEW tax news piece: “Offsetting overpaid CGT against income tax” (30 June 2021).
- Agent authorisation.
- Personal representatives. It is possible for personal representatives to appoint an agent to file a CGT return, but this does not give access to the full digital service and has associated data protection risks. In most cases agents filing on behalf of an estate should request a paper return.
- Non-residents. HMRC suggests that taxpayers who do not have a national insurance number or unique taxpayer reference phone HMRC to register for a CGT property account. The online workaround is explained in TAXguide 15/20 Capital gains tax 30-day reporting.
- Paper returns. HMRC confirms that no late filing penalties will be issued if a paper return is received by HMRC within 30 days of completion, even if, as is currently the case, HMRC does not process it for some time. The payment window is also paused, and taxpayers have 14 days from the date that the charge is raised in which to pay.
- Other queries.
HMRC expects to incorporate this information into its guidance on gov.uk and ICAEW will update TAXguide 15/20 in due course.
Download HMRC guidance
HMRC has developed a new question and answer helpsheet and an information document on offering further clarity on UK property disposal capital gains tax.
Download Q&ADownload informationTax Faculty
This guidance is created by the Tax Faculty, recognised internationally as a leading authority and source of expertise on taxation. The Faculty is the voice of tax for ICAEW, responsible for all submissions to the tax authorities. Join the Faculty for expert guidance and support enabling you to provide the best advice on tax to your clients or business.