New research suggests that investigations into unpaid Capital Gains Tax (CGT) managed to raise an additional £140million for HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) over the course of the last financial year. Read More
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has raked in £6.9billion from Capital Gains Tax (CGT) in the last year – representative of the second largest rise in CGT takings in the past two years, according to data.
CGT accounted for 1.4 per cent of all taxes in the 2014/15 financial year, comparable with 1.1 per cent in 2013/14. The £6.9bn total recorded for 2015/16 reflects a 24.6 per cent rise over the £5bn recorded in 2013/14. In 2012/13, the Treasury collected just £3.5bn.
Furthermore, approximately 28,000 more taxpayers were hit by CGT in 2014/15 (242,000) compared with 2013/14 (214,000).
Evidently, rising property values and larger volumes of sales over the past year have led to significant increases in the total amount of CGT paid.
Experts have suggested that rising asset values are dragging an increasing number of buy-to-let investors into the CGT net ever since a higher tax rate of 28 per cent was introduced by former Chancellor George Osborne in June 2010.
However, from the 2016/17 financial year, the 18 per cent rate for basic rate taxpayers and 28 per cent rate for additional or higher rate taxpayers have been reduced to 10 and 20 per cent, respectively. This will apply to all capital gains outside of residential property.
Some of the new tax measures announced in last week’s Budget will be a boost to start-ups and entrepreneurs, in particular the steep cut in Capital Gains Tax (CGT) from 28 per cent to 20 per cent and the extension of Entrepreneurs’ Relief. Read More
Changes from the start of this tax year mean that Britons living abroad are now subject to Capital Gains Tax (CGT), whereas before the new legislation was introduced on April 6, it was possible for expats to sell their property tax-free before returning home. Read More