Hello,
My sister purchased the UK house on 8/01/2000. She has been leaving in the house till December 2004. Then she moved to Bulgaria for the reason of her husband’s employment, as his employer requested him to move to their Bulgarian office in December 2004. When she left the UK, she and her husband did not make any nomination of the UK house, as their main residence. She rented out the UK house since January 2005 till present.
She also bought house in Bulgaria in March 2005. She and her husband have been living there till September 2020, then they sold the Bulgarian house and moved to rented accommodation in Bulgaria. Now they are considering moving to the UK and they are planning to live in their UK house from December 2021 till September 2022, then they are planning to sell the UK house.
Could you please advise, for the purpose of PPR, will the whole period of absence throughout which my sister and her husband were working in the Bulgarian employment all the duties of which were performed outside the United Kingdom, be the qualifying periods of absence in their case, according to S223(3) TCGA92?
Thank you.
Replies (7)
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You said “My sister purchased the UK house” and then “she moved to Bulgaria for the reason of her husband’s employment”.
If those are literally the facts, then I’m not sure what, if any, relief is available for the “working abroad” period.
This is the HMRC guidance:
https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/capital-gains-manual/cg65040.
If the amounts are material, best engage an accountant.
"planning to live in their UK house from December 2021 till September 2022, then they are planning to sell the UK house"
It would seem you are going to struggle if the intention is temporary occupation.
Intentions are key with PPR relief, there are no time limits as such. Its an odd area and you need someone experienced with property taxes to look at this.
Intentions aren't relevant. Quality of occupation is paramount. It is either occupied as the main residence, or it isn't. Planning to flog it in 9 months time doesn't preclude occupation as the main residence as a question of fact.
It is the case that, if the property is occupied is occupied as the main residence both before and after the absence that a period of absence of any length can be treated as occupation AS A RESIDENCE, if the reason for the absence is the individual or their spouse (or CP) performing the duties wholly outside the UK.
However, it only gives occupation AS A RESIDENCE, and not as the main residence.
So the sister would have needed to make a nomination within two years of acquiring the owned Bulgarian residence, and the old ESC, now in s 222(5A), that allows a later nomination is not available because outright ownership is more than an interest of negligible value (as would be the case for tenanted occupation of a property in Bulgaria).
Once they moved to rented accommodation a further opportunity for nomination arises, with no two year time limit, but you're still stuffed for the period of ownership of the previous Bulgarian property.
Should have taken paid for advice. It would have paid dividends. Never rely on advice of the internet either.