Capital gains tax reporting and record-keeping

How and when do I report capital gains to HMRC and pay my CGT bill?

If you normally complete a tax return, generally you report your capital gains on a Self Assessment tax return, using the capital gains pages. If you usually submit a paper tax return, you can find the specific pages on GOV.UK.

You need to use these pages if either:

• your gains are more than the annual exempt amount (£6,000 for 2023/24) for the year; or
• if your sales proceeds are more than a certain threshold (£50,000 for 2023/24), even if your gains are less than the annual exempt amount.

However, you do not have to complete the capital gains pages if your only disposal is of your home and private residence relief applies on the full amount of the gain.

If you make a disposal of UK land and property, you may also need to report the disposal of the property to HMRC on a separate return and pay CGT within 60 days of the date of completion. For disposals which completed before 27 October 2021, such returns (and the associated CGT payment) were required within 30 days.

Such a return is not generally required if the 60-day deadline falls after having already disclosed the disposal on a Self Assessment tax return. In this case the 60-day deadline for paying the tax is also disapplied. For example, if your completion date for a property disposal is 28 March 2023, then provided you file your Self Assessment tax return for 2022/23 including the disposal by 27 May 2023, then you will not usually need to file a 60-day return or pay the CGT within 60 days. The CGT would then be due via Self Assessment on 31 January 2024.

Similarly, the requirement to file a 60-day return is generally waived if the 60-day deadline occurs after the deadline for the Self Assessment tax return on which the disposal should be reported (for example, if contracts were exchanged towards the end of the tax year but completion did not occur until the following January).

However, there is an exception to the above two rules if the amount of CGT reported in your Self Assessment tax return is less than the amount which would have been payable within 60 days.

For example, suppose your completion date for a property disposal is 28 March 2023 and you have capital gain (after deducting your annual exempt amount) of £5,000, but then on 2 April 2023 you make a capital loss of £7,000 on the disposal of some shares. You cannot deduct the capital loss when considering the 60-day report because it occurs after the completion date of the property disposal. When you file your Self Assessment tax return, you will be able to offset the capital loss from the capital gain. However, assuming no other capital disposals in the 2022/23 tax year, in this situation you would have needed to file a 60-day return by 27 May 2023 and pay CGT on the property disposal by the same date. You would need to wait until filing your Self Assessment tax return to claim relief for the capital loss.

If you make the disposal as a non-resident, you should report it within 60 days, even if there is no tax to pay. This applies to disposals of all UK land and property by non-residents, not just residential property. If there is any tax to pay, then it is also due within 60 days. There is information about this on GOV.UK.

UK residents disposing of UK residential property should also report it within 60 days, unless there is no tax to pay. Any tax due on the gain should also be paid within 60 days.

Please note that you are required to report these disposals within 60 days even if you intend to file a Self Assessment tax return for that year at some later point. We give further information below on how to make the report.

The position can be summarised in the following table:

Table A

UK tax residence status	Asset type	Required to report the disposal within 60 days?	Deadline for paying tax
Resident	UK residential property	Only if there is tax to pay	60 days
	Anything other than UK residential property	No	31 January following the end of the tax year
Non-resident	UK land and property	Yes	60 days*
	Anything other than UK land and property	No	N/A

*CGT for non-residents may not apply to the whole gain. If not, you may have to pay more tax if you return to the UK after a period of temporary non-residence. See our guidance for more information.

Can I pay my CGT bill by instalments?

In certain limited circumstances where you make a gift of an asset (or otherwise do not receive full cash proceeds on disposal) you may be able to elect to pay a CGT bill in yearly instalments.

This can include where CGT may be due alongside a 60-day report, on disposal UK residential property (for UK residents), or UK land and property (for non-UK residents).

Payment by instalment if an asset is gifted

If an asset is gifted, electing to pay by instalments is only possible for the following assets:

• Land and property

• A controlling holding of shares in a company

• Any holding of shares in an unlisted company

For example, payment by annual instalments may be available if a property is gifted within a family to someone other than your spouse or civil partner. In this case, CGT is calculated using the market value of the property at the date of disposal, but there may be no proceeds from which to pay the CGT.

Any election to pay CGT by instalments should be made to HMRC in writing before the CGT becomes payable – this might not leave much time where the asset in question was a property subject to the 60-day reporting requirements. No late payment penalties apply where an election is made to pay CGT by instalments, provided the election is made on time, but late payment interest will be added to each instalment payable.

An election to make payments of CGT by annual instalment in case of a gift allows the tax to be paid in up to ten equal annual payments.

You can read more about electing to pay CGT by annual instalments on a gifted asset in HMRC’s Capital Gains Manual.

Payment by instalment if proceeds are deferred

It may also be possible to pay CGT by instalments if the proceeds of disposal are themselves payable by instalments over a period exceeding 18 months. In this case, the payment of CGT can only be spread over a maximum period of eight years. There is no restriction on the type of asset disposed in order to qualify.

You can read more about electing to pay CGT by instalments where the proceeds are deferred in HMRC’s Capital Gains Manual.

Time-to-Pay arrangement

If you owe CGT as part of your Self Assessment tax bill (that is, you are not required to make a 60-day report for the disposal), but find that you are unable to pay by the deadline due to financial difficulties, then you may be able to make a Time to Pay arrangement with HMRC for your entire Self Assessment tax bill, including the CGT.

A Time to Pay arrangement is an agreed payment plan which stops late payment penalties from applying during the period of the arrangement, provided you make the payments as agreed. Late payment interest is charged as normal.

If you owe CGT alongside an obligation to make a 60-day report and you are not eligible to apply for annual instalments for that liability, we understand there is no formal option to pay the tax under a Time to Pay arrangement.

However, as noted above, provided the CGT is paid by the normal Self Assessment due date, no late payment penalties should be applicable. Late payment interest will still run from the 60-day deadline.

I do not normally complete a tax return. How do I report my gains?

This depends on whether you have made a disposal of property which requires you to complete a return within 60 days of completion of the disposal.

Disposals for which a return is not required within 60 days

You have a choice.

You can report your gains using a ‘real time’ online service on GOV.UK if you are UK resident. Using this service is optional and the gains can be reported at any time after the disposal up to 31 December after the tax year when you had the gains. For example, if you disposed of an asset and made a gain in January 2023, this would fall in the 2022/23 tax year (which ended on 5 April 2023) and you would be able to report the gain using the ‘real time’ service up to 31 December 2023.

You need a Government Gateway account to use this service, which you can set up as part of the reporting process. If you report your gains in this way, you will activate your Personal Tax Account, if you have not already activated this. This means you do not need to wait until after the end of the tax year to report your gains in a tax return.

If you use this service to report your gains, you will not need to file a Self Assessment tax return for that year assuming you have no other reason to do so. However, if you do need to file a Self Assessment tax return then you will need to report the gains again on this return.

If you choose not to use the ‘real time’ service, you will need to contact HMRC and register for a Self Assessment tax return by completing form SA1, or telephoning the Self Assessment helpline. You should do this by 5 October following the end of the tax year for which you have CGT to pay (or losses that you want to notify to HMRC for carrying forward).

If you are unlikely to need to complete a tax return again in the future, as soon as you have sent in this tax return, contact HMRC requesting that you be removed from Self Assessment so that they do not keep sending you tax returns to complete.

Disposals of UK land or property for which a return is required within 60 days

If you are required to complete a return within 60 days of completion of the disposal of UK land or property, whether or not you are UK resident, you should use HMRC’s Report and pay CGT on UK property service. It is possible to complete this on paper if you are unable to use the digital service (see the question immediately below).

Filing a 60-day report, whether online or on paper, is mandatory if you fall within the criteria for making one.

Guidance for non-resident individuals who do not have a National Insurance number or Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) can be found here.

Again, if you use this service to report your gain(s), you will not need to file a Self Assessment tax return for that year assuming you have no other reason to do so. However, if you do need to file a Self Assessment tax return then you will need to report the gain(s) again on this return.

We summarise the reporting methods in the following table:

Table B

Required to report the disposal within 60 days? (Table A above)	HMRC's 'real time' Capital Gains Tax service	HMRC's 'real time' Report and pay CGT on UK property service	Self Assessment tax return
Yes	N/A	Required in all cases	Only required if issued with a return by HMRC or otherwise meet Self Assessment criteria
No	Optional	N/A	Required if gain not reported using 'real time' Capital Gains Tax service or if issued with a return by HMRC or otherwise meet Self Assessment criteria

How do I make a 60-day report?

You should create a Capital Gains Tax on UK property account using your Government Gateway user ID, if you have one. If you do not have a Government Gateway ID then you will need to create one when you first sign in.

⚠️ If you receive an error message when you are trying to create a CGT on UK property account, HMRC say you should review and update your address in your Personal Tax Account. If you live in the UK, check that the postcode field is correctly populated. If you live outside the UK, check that the country field is correctly populated.

HMRC are expecting taxpayers to use the digital service by default. However, if you are uncomfortable or unable to complete the digital return, HMRC have made available to download (on a trial basis, until the end of September 2023) a paper form for tax years from 2022/23. If you need a paper form for a disposal in an earlier year, or if the paer form is no longer available to download, you should phone HMRC. Note that, in some circumstances, you must file on paper.

If you need extra support in dealing with your taxes, you should contact HMRC and explain your circumstances. If appropriate, they may assist you in completing the form over the phone.

The 60-day deadline to file the return will still apply, so you should act quickly to avoid penalties. You do not have to wait until you have sold the property before contacting HMRC.

When posting a paper form back to HMRC:

• Keep a copy of it, if possible.
• Post it in good time to meet the deadline.
• Consider using a signed-for postal service or ask the Post Office for a proof of postage in case HMRC say that they did not receive the form.

If you send a paper form to HMRC, they should inform you of how and when to pay once they process the form. HMRC may take several weeks to do this, and it is not possible to pay the CGT before you have been provided with the appropriate payment reference. It is important that you make the payment with the correct reference: you should not use your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) as it may not be allocated correctly. We understand you should be given 30 days from the date that HMRC process the form to make the payment before late payment interest will accrue.

In both cases, we recommend completing the necessary steps as soon as possible.

If you need help, see our Getting Help page. If you are on a low income, you can contact one of the tax charities for assistance. Alternatively, you can ask a paid tax adviser to complete the report for you. If you do this, you will need to provide them with specific authority to do so (the advisor should explain what you need to do) or, if you are unable to do this, by contacting HMRC.

I am completing my 2022/23 tax return and I did not file a 60-day report. What should I do?

If you made a disposal for which you were required to file a 60-day report, but you did not file that report in time, HMRC say that you should still file that report late before reporting the disposal on your 2022/23 Self Assessment tax return. 

If you have already filed your 2022/23 Self Assessment tax return but you did not file the necessary 60-day report, you will need to file that report on paper.

In either case, HMRC may charge late submission penalties depending on how late the 60-day report is. However, HMRC have confirmed they will not charge daily penalties for late 60-day reports.

I am a basic-rate taxpayer but I do not yet know what my income will be for the year. How do I calculate the CGT due?

As we explain on our main CGT page, the rate of CGT payable depends on your other taxable income in the year. If you have a gain for which you need to file a 60-day return, you might not know before you need to file the return which rate is applicable – or if a mix of rates applies, you might not know how much of the gain is charged at the lower rate.

In this situation, all you are required to do is make a reasonable estimate of your other taxable income, so that you can determine which rate applies, or what proportion of the gain is chargeable at the lower rates. Therefore, provided the estimate is reasonable, you should not face any penalties for an inaccurate 60-day return. You should keep records to evidence that your estimate of your other taxable income is a reasonable one.

Once you know your taxable income for the year, you should recalculate the CGT due and report the disposal on a Self Assessment tax return (unless the CGT already paid happened to be correct and you had no other reason to file a tax return for the year). Alternatively, you may submit an amended 60-day return at the time ‘it becomes reasonable to make a different estimate’ of your income. You are not required to make such an additional return in this situation, but it may mean you avoid having to do a Self Assessment tax return.

Provided you pay the CGT calculated (using the reasonable estimate) on time, no late-payment interest should apply if the estimate turns out to be too low and you pay any difference by the normal Self Assessment due date.

Late-payment penalties can apply to late-paid CGT, but these are calculated by reference to the normal Self Assessment filing dates (therefore these would be payable from 30 days after the 31 January following the end of tax year – for 2022/23, this is 2 March 2024).

If the estimated tax turns out to be too high, you should be eligible for a repayment supplement (interest) on amounts overpaid from the later of the date of payment and the normal Self Assessment due date (for 2022/23, this would be 31 January 2024). 

Amounts of CGT overpaid in-year should be offset automatically against other Self Assessment amounts due. However, if the overpaid CGT exceeds your other Self Assessment amounts due, you will need to contact HMRC to request the repayment of the excess. For more information, please see HMRC’s manual.

What records do I need to keep for CGT?

If you make a taxable capital gain, you generally need to complete a Self Assessment tax return, so you need to keep relevant documents in connection with the gain or claim for losses or other reliefs. Essentially, you need records that, if necessary, will enable you to answer any HMRC queries.

When we refer to market value in the following guidance, we mean the price your asset might reasonably be expected to fetch on the open market.

You usually acquire an asset when you buy it, but you might also have inherited it, received it as a gift or some other way.

In all cases you need to keep records of the original cost, incidental costs associated with acquiring the asset and sometimes records showing the value of the asset on a specific date.

You may need to keep a record of some or all of the following:

The original cost

If you bought the asset after 31 March 1982 you need to keep records showing the original cost of the asset – such as receipts for purchase. If these are not available you may need to get a valuation of the asset at that date from, for example, an estate agent or an auctioneer and you need to keep proof of any such valuation safe for future use.

If you received the asset some other way – for example by inheritance or gift – you need to find out the market value on the date you acquired it. If you inherited the asset, the executors of the deceased should have provided you with this information.

The market value at 31 March 1982

If you owned the asset on 31 March 1982, you need to work out the market value of the asset at that date and use this in your CGT calculations instead of your actual costs up to that date. You need to keep any records that help you do this.

You may need to get a valuation of the asset at 31 March 1982 from, for example, an estate agent or an auctioneer and you need to keep any such valuation safe for future use.

Market value at other dates

There are other times when you need to use the market value of the asset on a specific date in your CGT calculations instead of the cost.

For example, if you dispose of an asset left to you in a Will by a relative or friend, you use the market value on the date of death instead of any actual cost in your calculations. This valuation might have been done when the person died, especially if an inheritance tax return was done. If so, you will use that valuation as your cost.

Or, if you gave an asset to your child, you use the market value on the date of the gift as the proceeds, instead of any amount received. Your child would then use that market value as their cost if they dispose of the asset in future.

You may need to get a valuation of the asset from an estate agent or auctioneer. If you want you can get HMRC to check your valuation so that you have an agreed figure for your tax return. In that case you should complete and send form CG34 Post Transaction Valuation Check to HMRC after you have disposed of the property.

Additional records you may need to keep

If you incurred other allowable costs when acquiring the asset – such as stamp duty land tax (or land and buildings transaction tax in Scotland/land transaction tax in Wales) and any fees paid for professional advice, estate agents costs, valuation fees or other costs of transfer including advertising – you need to keep a record of the amounts involved and any documents relating to that expenditure.

You deduct these costs in the calculation when working out any capital gain.

You can also deduct any VAT on the costs, unless you are VAT registered and can reclaim the VAT.

There are other costs during your ownership of an asset which can be deducted from the calculation for CGT purposes:

Improvement costs

If you have spent money improving the value of your asset, you may be able to deduct these costs, as long as the improvement is still reflected in the value of the asset when you dispose of it. For example, if you build a garage to add value to your property – and it is still part of the property when you sell or dispose of it – you can deduct the cost of the garage.

You cannot however include maintenance costs, such as decorating or any repairs.

You can also deduct any VAT paid on improvements, unless you are VAT registered and can reclaim the VAT.

If your base cost is based on market value (for example, it was a gift to you or it was inherited), you cannot take a deduction for improvement costs which have been incurred prior to the date of the valuation. See the example of Neil.

Confirming you own the asset

If you spend money proving that you own or have rights over an asset you may be able to deduct this cost.

When you dispose of your asset

You usually dispose of an asset when you sell it, but you may also give it away, exchange it for another asset, transfer it to someone else or it may have been lost or destroyed.

In all cases you need to keep records of the 'disposal proceeds' – usually the amount you receive – and sometimes records showing its value on a specific date.

You also should keep records of the amount you receive if you otherwise dispose of the asset – this may include, for example, a sum received as compensation for a damaged asset.

Any extra costs

If you spend money selling or otherwise disposing of an asset – such as legal fees, valuation fees or advertising costs to find a buyer or an estate agent’s commission – and you deduct these in your CGT calculation, you need to keep records of these costs.