Graham Matthews

Would it be possible to reply yes or not, if Private Residence Relief is available when calculating UK capital gains tax due on the sale of an overseas property? Thanks.

Hi, sorry I do not understand the reply from HMRC Admin 19. The question was, is Private Residence Relief available on gains made on the sale of overseas property. For example, I was an expat in China for 20 years before returning to UK in 2013, I did not have a house in UK whilst I lived in China and my China house bought in 2003 was my sole residential property. Since 2013 I returned to UK, bought a house, and rented out the China house. Please confirm if Private Redidential Relief is available on the gain on the sale of the China house for the period it was my sole private family home.

Although headline CGT in UK is higher at 28%, there is also a relief available for if you used property as main residence, e.g. if you lived there as your sole main residence for 10 out of 20 years then 50% of the gain would not be taxable, so you would be left with only 14% CGT in UK. China does not have such a relief. Dear HMRC, can you please confirm that the residential relief is available on overseas property if it was the sole residence?

Hello, I would also like to ask the same question, I am a UK national and UK tax resident. I have a property in China to sell. My understanding, similar to DXM, is that in China capital gains on sale of residential property are included in China tax as a separate line item under the general classification of "Personal Income Tax". Personal Income Tax includes a grouping of income items called Comprehensive Income including employment income, dividends, interest, etc with sliding scale tax bands like the UK, but then also has a few separate line items like Capital Gains which do not use a sliding scale but a flat rate of 20% on the gain. Therefore can you please confirm that this is the amount I could claim UK relief on.