Cgt advice

[Indecisive09]

When me and DH bought our current house (2022) we didn't sell the house we were living in immediately, and this sold last month.

We didn't rent it out, it was mainly as the second house needed renovating and then we needed to get the first house sold etc

We paid the higher rate Stamp duty when we bought the second house and it looks as though we can claim part of that back

The bit which is confusing me is CGT, as we lived there for part of the time we owned it, and I don't know if we can both use allowances etc.

Do I need an accountant or a tax adviser or am I overthinking this and should I just try and do this myself?

the period of time you lived in may affect tax you might have to pay on your FIRST house when you sell it. Weve not moved into the second house until we’ve sold the first ( long story, on third set of buyers) to avoid any issues with claiming the stamp on the second house. There might be an online calculator somewhere?

Thank you, it's the first house we've now sold. I'll have a look for one of those calculators

If you do owe CGT you only have 60 days from the date of completion in which to pay it, so crack on.

Have a look at primary residence elections too, as these determine which home is your exempt property once you own two houses.
i think you get the period of occupation tax-free, plus nine months at the end (part of the period you weren’t living there, but only part). It’s all time apportioned so there might be a portion of the overall increase which you’ll be taxed on.

"...bought our current house (2022) we didn't sell the house we were living in immediately, and this sold last month."

Also, don't forget that at the time you paid a higher level of stamp duty as you ended up owning two homes.

If you sell one of the homes within three years then you can claim a refund of the extra stamp duty that you paid.

You have 12 months from the sale of the second property to claim the refund:

When you can apply for a repayment of SDLT

You can apply for a repayment of the higher rates of SDLT for additional properties if you’ve sold what was previously your main home and you’re either the:

• main buyer of the property charged at the higher rate of SDLT
• agent acting for the main buyer

You must have sold your previous main home within 3 years of buying the new property, unless exceptional circumstances apply.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/stamp-duty-land-tax-apply-for-a-repayment-of-the-higher-rates-for-additional-properties