Tax and selling property at a loss

[Bells3032]

I am selling my property at a loss. I bought it for myself to live it in 2016 but then met and moved in with my husband and have rented it for the last 18 months.

We are now selling as we want to buy a house and want the equity back.

Cos of the drop in property prices I am selling at £20k less than what I paid. I was told I could claim this loss against my taxes. Is this just future cgt tax or my self assessment, my regular paid income tax from my job or what? What difference would I get (I am a higher rate tax payer if that makes a difference).

Can anyone advise?

Thanks

I just sold in similar circumstances - I sold for a small profit but once all the costs were taken into account it was actually a loss for CGT purposes.
I just did the CGT declaration within 30 days of completion (due to the rule change in April) so had confirmation that no CGT payable.
I'm not aware that you can set off the loss for other purposes such as tax on income etc but would be interested to know if that is the case!

I just sold in similar circumstances - I sold for a small profit but once all the costs were taken into account it was actually a loss for CGT purposes.
I just did the CGT declaration within 30 days of completion (due to the rule change in April) so had confirmation that no CGT payable.
I'm not aware that you can set off the loss for other purposes such as tax on income etc but would be interested to know if that is the case!

You can only set the loss against future capital gains. You can't set a capital loss against other income such as wages etc.

Your capital loss may also be restricted for the time it was your main residence. There's no capital gains tax for main residence gains, and likewise no loss relief either. The only taxable gain/loss will arise from the period in which it was let out on a time apportioned basis.

If you were a property ‘dealer’ the loss would have been allowed against your other income. You bought it as an investment, not for a quick deal, therefore follow what @Badbadbunny says in their second email.

If you register the loss you can the offset it against future capital gains going forward , so property, shares or any investment classed as a capital gain.
It's a good idea to utilise your annual capital gains tax allowance, many of us never utilise this allowance.