Alan Pink looks at a few ‘real life’ solutions to the problem of tax and property sales.
Capital gains tax (CGT) is a big threat to the financial health of a property investment business. In overview, CGT is a tax which bites when certain types of assets are disposed of at a value higher than they were acquired for. The most common assets that are subject to the tax are property, shares in companies, and assets used for the purposes of a business.
The rate at which CGT is charged depends on the individual’s level of income (companies pay corporation tax on their gains). So, for a higher rate taxpayer, commercial property gains are charged at 20% and residential property at 28%. The equivalent for lower rate taxpayers of these two rates are 10% and 18% respectively, but these lower rates are actually of very little relevance in practice because the gain itself, unless it
