Selling a property you inherited? You usually only pay Capital Gains Tax on the rise in value since you inherited it, not the whole gain. We calculate it correctly, claim reliefs, and file the 60-day return on time.
Selling Inherited Property
When you inherit a property, its base cost for Capital Gains Tax is its value at the date of death, the probate value, not what the deceased originally paid. So if you sell it later, you are only taxed on any increase in value since you inherited it, less selling costs and your annual exempt amount. If you sell quickly at close to the probate value, there may be little or no CGT at all.
Your Tax Help Accountants establishes the correct base value, calculates the gain accurately, deducts selling costs and improvement spending, applies your annual exempt amount, and files the 60-day residential property CGT return on time. Where more than one person inherited, we make sure each person's share and allowance is used. The result is the right tax, and never a missed deadline.
The key figure is the probate or date-of-death value, that is your cost, not what the deceased paid decades ago. Getting that value right, and remembering the 60-day filing deadline, is what keeps the tax correct and penalty-free.
The Detail That Matters
When you sell a property you inherited, Capital Gains Tax is charged only on the growth since the date of death, not the whole value, because you acquire it at its probate value. Getting that base value right, and using the reliefs, keeps the tax low.
You are treated as acquiring the property at its market value on the date of death (the probate value). CGT applies only to the increase between that value and the sale price, so an accurate, well-evidenced probate valuation is crucial.
From the growth since death you deduct selling costs and any capital improvements, then your £3,000 annual exemption, with the balance taxed at 18% or 24%. If several people inherited, each uses their own exemption.
A residential property gain must be reported and paid within 60 days of completion, separately from your normal tax return. Missing this brings penalties, so we handle it promptly.
If the inherited property became your main home, Private Residence Relief can reduce or remove the gain for that period. Where it was let, other reliefs may apply. We check every angle before calculating.
People often assume they are taxed on the whole value of an inherited property, or use an under-evidenced probate value, either overpaying, or storing up a problem if HMRC challenges a base cost that was set too low.
Key Figures
How We Help
We use the date-of-death value as your base cost, so you are taxed only on the increase since you inherited, not the whole history of the property.
Any Capital Gains Tax on inherited residential property must be reported and paid within 60 days of completion. We prepare and file it on time, avoiding penalties.
Where several people inherited a share, we make sure each person's portion and annual exempt amount is used, minimising the total tax across the family.
All the forms, calculations and correspondence handled on your behalf, so you never have to decode HMRC's rules or sit on hold.
A clear fixed fee quoted after a free call, your position explained in plain English, and never a surprise bill.
We act quickly, and where earlier years are involved we put those right too, reclaiming refunds or minimising penalties.
People often assume they will be taxed on the whole value of an inherited property, or forget the 60-day deadline and incur penalties. In reality the taxable gain is usually just the rise since the date of death, and with reliefs and multiple allowances it can be small. We get it right and on time.
Recent Client Outcome
Two siblings inherited their late parent's house and sold it 18 months later for £40,000 more than the probate value.
What we did. We used the properly evidenced probate value as the base cost, deducted selling costs and a documented improvement, then applied each sibling's own £3,000 annual exemption to their half of the gain.
The outcome. Only the growth since death was taxable, and split across two exemptions with costs deducted, the CGT was modest; we filed both 60-day returns on time to avoid penalties.
Because they were taxed only on the increase since death, and each used their own exemption, the bill was far smaller than they feared.
Why People Come to Us
Questions Answered
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