capital gains tax on sale of property.

[biryani]

I have a property which I'm considering selling. I understand capital gains tax(I think) but I've read somewhere that if you reinvest the profit into something else, you are exempt. Am I right or have I imagined it?

Periodically the government offers incentives to get people to invest in various things. I think last year there was a scheme that basically guaranteed something like 70% of income invested in new high risk start ups through a CG exemption/tax savings if you were a higher rate tax payer, had made a big capital gain and generally had loads of money floating around. I think there are other ways to sort of defer paying the CG tax. The tax system is very complex but if you have lots of money there seems to always be a scheme or other to save you tax! Speak to an accountant, preferably one that specializes in tax. They should give you a free half hour like a solicitor to see if you want to employ them. But I would wait until Feb as most tax people are a bit busy right now. (Says wife of tax specialist. So all hearsay of half listened to 'what interesting thing I found out at work today' type conversations apart from the free half hour bit!)

Thanks vj. That's terrific info.

biryani
if the property is your main home or has been your main home within the last three years it is exempt from CGT

rollover relief is quite limited, and it would largely depend on how much the actual taxable gain would be after costs and your annual allowance whether its worth chasing

you probably need to talk to your accountant

Thanks Talkin. The property hasn't been my home for ten years. I bought it for 25k, and it's realistically worth 175k now. I can't work out if the capital gain is based on the whole profit or profit since being let. I'd like to sell up and reinvest as I'm not mortgeagable at the moment due to lack of income.

start of gain period is when it stopped being your home
so value as at date of first letting
if you did not have it valued, zoopla is your friend
and you get taper relief for years of ownership

Thanks again Talkin. I'll check.