Anyone know anything about Capital Gains Tax?

[Bubbaloo]

We're in the process of selling a property and once it's completed I shall be instructing an accountant to work out how much CGT we have to pay and it will be paid.
I wouldn't dream of not paying it but I am wondering that if it isn't sorted out by the solicitor who is dealing with the conveyancing,then how would the tax man actually know that we have just sold a property and need to pay it?
I'm guessing that there's loads of people who maybe don't pay CGT when they should and never get found out which seems a bit unfair,or do they catch up with them eventually?.

[BCLass]

Oooh yeah they can find out.

Easiest way is by them checking through land registry records.

Anyone with a grudge against you? Bitter ex-Ps are another good source. Jealous friends/family?

[Bubbaloo]

Thanks.
We shall be sorting it out as soon as we've complete on the property but I'm just wondering how many people who don't pay what they should and whether they get found out.

[Bubbaloo]

I certainly wouldn't want to be caught out 5 or 10 years down the road and hit with a huge bill plus all that interest.If I didn't pay it,I'd be constantly worrying about them tracking me down.

[B1977]

Take a look at IR283-Private residence relief on www.hmrc.gov.uk/sa/forms/net-06-07.htm#a

and browse the other info on capital gains tax.

You should definitely get an accountant to calculate the tax you will have to pay as it can be quite complicated and there may be some reliefs and exemptions available which an accountant would know how to claim.

As to your other query - yes, in the UK people would get found out, due to land registry records etc.!!!

However, you might have impression that loads of people are out there getting away without paying capital gains tax on selling properties but in many cases this could be legitimate e.g. they keep doing up their own home and moving on and get full "principle private residence" relief each time, or they have owned the property for a long time and get a lot of taper relief, or their taxable gain is relatively small and covered by their annual exemption (07-08 £9,200 per person) or maybe they had capital losses which are set against their gains etc. etc. etc.

[Bubbaloo]

Thanks,that's really helpful.
Dh has owned the propertyy for 20 years and lets his dad live there rent free,so we've never really had an income from the property.We're now selling it as he lives alone,is too big for him and we're buying him a flat instead.There's never been a mortgage on the property and now there will be quite a bit leftover which will enable us to move house too and obviously have the tax to pay.
Really haven't got any idea of how much it will be,but was told by our solicitor to get an accountant to sort it out,so we can pay asap and not have to worry about it.