The government is believed to be ‘actively investigating’ charging capital gains tax (CGT) on the sale of property in the UK held by overseas investors, with the new charge potentially being introduced as early as December when chancellor George Osborne delivers his Autumn Statement.
David Cohen considers how FA 2013 has created two contrasting opportunities for employee shareholders to pay little or no CGT.
Principal private residence relief
The government’s ‘shares for rights’ scheme, which allows staff to give up their employment rights in exchange for equity stakes and was introduced this month with the aim of boosting business start-ups, has been reported in the Financial Times as ‘helping to cut executive tax bills in t
Whether house used as principal private residence
HMRC has publicised the fact that a new employment status – that of the employee shareholder – took effect from 1 September 2013.
People have until 9 August to tell HMRC about any unpaid tax on property sales, and until 6 September to pay the tax owed under the department’s property sales campaign, under a tax ‘amnesty’ HMRC introduced earlier this year.
Navigate your way through the rules, with William Arrenberg, Casey O’Hara, Richard Harryman, Mike Haynes, David Smith, Steve Wade and Malcolm Finney.
The cases of Ramsay and Zetland can help provide a n answer, says Peter Vaines
CGT avoidance scheme: acquisition cost of shares