Capital Gains Tax Reporting
Capital Gains Tax Reporting & Planning
Capital Gains Tax is one of the easiest taxes to overpay, and one of the easiest to be penalised on for filing late. Most accountants simply report the gain you hand them and work out the bill. We do the opposite: we plan the disposal before it happens, claim every relief you’re entitled to, and make sure the 60-day reporting deadline never catches you out. Led by Chartered Tax Advisers with first-hand HMRC experience, we treat Capital Gains Tax as a planning opportunity, not just a form to file. For the official rules, see HMRC’s guidance on how to report and pay your Capital Gains Tax.
When Capital Gains Tax Applies
You may have a Capital Gains Tax liability whenever you sell, gift or otherwise dispose of an asset that has risen in value, including:
- A second home, buy-to-let or other residential property that isn’t your main home.
- Shares, funds and other investments held outside an ISA or pension.
- Cryptoassets: HMRC treats most crypto disposals as chargeable to Capital Gains Tax
- The sale of a business, or of shares in your own company.
- Other valuable assets, such as land, commercial property or certain personal possessions.
With the annual tax-free allowance now just £3,000, a fraction of what it was a few years ago, far more disposals now produce a tax bill, so the planning matters more than ever.
The 60 Day Deadline Most People Miss
If you sell or gift a UK residential property at a gain, you must report it to HMRC and pay the Capital Gains Tax due within 60 days of completion, not at the end of the tax year. Miss it and HMRC charges automatic penalties and interest. This is the single biggest CGT trap, and it catches out sellers, and even some accountants, every year. We handle the whole process: calculating the gain, claiming the right reliefs, filing the 60-day return, and telling you exactly what to pay and by when.
How We Reduce Your Capital Gains Tax Bills
Because our team is led by Chartered Tax Advisers, we look for the reliefs and planning points an ordinary accountant overlooks:
- Private Residence Relief on a property that has been your main home, including periods that may still qualify after you move out.
- Business Asset Disposal Relief on the sale of your business or qualifying company shares.
- Using both spouses’ annual exemptions, and transferring assets between spouses before a sale.
- Timing disposals across tax years to use more than one year’s allowance.
- Offsetting current-year and brought-forward capital losses.
- Gift Holdover Relief and Rollover Relief where assets are gifted or business proceeds reinvested.
The biggest savings come from planning before you sell. Speak to us before a disposal, not after; once contracts are exchanged, most of the options are gone.
What Our Capital Gains Tax Service Includes:
- Preparation and submission of your CGT on UK property return within the 60-day deadline.
- CGT calculations and reporting through self-assessment for shares, investments, crypto and other assets.
- A pre-sale planning review to structure the disposal as tax-efficiently as possible.
- Full advice on allowable costs, reliefs and exemptions.
- Support and representation if HMRC queries your return.
Why Choose Merit For Capital Gains Tax
We’re Chartered Tax Advisers, the highest tax qualification in the UK, not just accountants, and our team has worked inside HMRC, so we know how CGT enquiries are run and how to keep you on the right side of them. In the last two financial years we’ve saved clients over £9.2 million in tax. You get clear, fixed-fee advice agreed up front, no jargon, no surprises, no obligation.
Ensure Compliant CGT Reporting
Capital Gains Tax FAQs
For UK residential property, within 60 days of completion, both the report and the payment. For other assets, the gain is usually reported through your self-assessment tax return after the tax year ends.
The annual exempt amount is currently £3,000 per person. Anything above that is taxable, so using both spouses’ allowances and timing your disposals can make a real difference.
Usually not. Your main home normally qualifies for Private Residence Relief. It gets more complicated if you’ve let the property, used part of it for business, or own more than one home, which is exactly where good advice pays for itself.
In most cases, yes. HMRC treats disposals of cryptoassets, including swapping one coin for another, as chargeable to Capital Gains Tax. We can calculate and report this for you.
Yes. We advise non-UK residents with UK tax exposure, including those with UK property, UK-source income, or more complex international circumstances.