If you’ve sold or disposed of residential property which wasn’t your main home, and have not disclosed any profit to the HMRC, you have until 9 August to tell HMRC about any unpaid tax and until 6 September to pay the tax that you owe.
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is offering you a quick and straight forward way to bring your tax affairs up to date. As part of the Property Sales Campaign, all taxpayers who’ve failed to declare Capital Gains Tax (CGT) after selling second or additional residential properties in the UK or abroad, have a limited window to notify and voluntarily disclose any undeclared profits. These could include a holiday home or a property that you rented out. You may also be able to use this campaign where you have sold your main home.
Only certain people can use this campaign. It’s not for you, if you:
- buy and sell property as a business (these sales are subject to income tax rather than capital gains tax), or
- need to disclose a gain made by a trust, company or partnership.
However if you’ve sold residential property you should register your intention to take part in the campaign now. You have only 2 days, until 9 August, to ‘make a notification’ which includes sending over contact details, National Insurance number, and Self Assessment Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR), if you have one. You can ask your agent or accountant to notify HMRC on your behalf using any of the following three methods:
- complete a notification form online and then submit it by email to HMRC
- complete a notification form online, print it out and then post it to HMRC
- call HMRC and make your notification over the telephone
At this stage – over the next 2 days – you only have to ‘make a notification” to the HMRC about any unpaid tax. And in less than a month, you will have to calculate the tax, interest and penalties and then complete a standard disclosure form which has to be submitted and paid by 6 September. After the 6th, HMRC will use the information it holds to target those who should have paid Capital Gains Tax (CGT) under this campaign but failed to do so.
Marian Wilson, Head of HMRC Campaigns, said: “Over the last few months we have published articles and written to a lot of people to make them aware of the campaign. As a result, hundreds of people have now come forward. It is not too late for people to set this straight.”
By using the campaign to come forward voluntarily, you will receive the best possible terms, and any penalty will be lower than if HMRC approaches you first. It would be a crying shame if an opportunity like this to help you sort your tax affairs goes begging. There is still time to make this disclosure and it may be possible to pay the tax due in installments but this will need to be negotiated without delay.
