Sale of couples PPR owned by husband only.

Is PPR available to the wife as well as husband?

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Elderly husband bought house 50+ years ago in his own name. He then married and lived with his wife in same house for next 45 years before they both moved into alternative accomodation provided by daughter, but the house was never transferred into joint names.

The house was then rented out and income declared on husbands Tax Return.

House is now being sold and completion is in 2020/21 tax year. There will be a large gain to report, so having two sets of PPR and Annual Allowance to claim would reduce the amount of gain which is taxable.

Does the fact that the wife was never registerd as co-owner mean that the gain will be assessable solely on the husband or will the fact that they lived in the property as their principal residence and as husband and wife enable them to claim that the gain should be assessable equally between them?

 

 

Replies (13)

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By GW
14th Apr 2020 13:29

If the property is in the husbands name any gain will be borne by him alone. The PPR claim will take all the gain occuring up to the point it was let out of the taxable amount, whether or not it is assessable on one or both of them. There is also letting relief to consider.

You may be able to split the gain between them if the Husband gives half of the property to his wife before it is sold, however this will need to be properly recorded, including at the land registry.

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By ireallyshouldknowthisbut
14th Apr 2020 13:40

If exchange was is in 20/21 no letting relief and remember you have to declare within 30 days now.

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Replying to ireallyshouldknowthisbut:
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By James McElhinney
14th Apr 2020 14:11

Is there not 9 months of letting relief in 20/21

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Replying to ireallyshouldknowthisbut:
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By James McElhinney
14th Apr 2020 14:11

Is there not 9 months of letting relief in 20/21

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Replying to James McElhinney:
By ireallyshouldknowthisbut
14th Apr 2020 14:46

Its never been 9 months, it was the lower of £40k or the value of the PPR relief.

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Replying to ireallyshouldknowthisbut:
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By James McElhinney
14th Apr 2020 15:41

I think you will find that is "Lettings Relief" which I acknowledge is not available from 06/04/20 unless the accommodation was shared with the tenant.
PPR relief is, I think, still available for the last months of ownership as well as the time that it was occupied as the main residence ?

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Replying to James McElhinney:
RLI
By lionofludesch
14th Apr 2020 16:35

James McElhinney wrote:

I think you will find that is "Lettings Relief" which I acknowledge is not available from 06/04/20 unless the accommodation was shared with the tenant.
PPR relief is, I think, still available for the last months of ownership as well as the time that it was occupied as the main residence ?

Well, it's a moot point now but here's a bit of research I did.

https://www.bdo.co.uk/en-gb/insights/tax/private-client/changes-to-capit...

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Replying to James McElhinney:
Scooby
By gainsborough
14th Apr 2020 14:47

No, you are thinking of the last 9 moths of ownership being covered by PPR relief (previously 18 months).

Letting relief is gone in most cases for disposals after 6th April, with only the rare exception where the house was let whilst at the same time being occupied by the owner.

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Replying to gainsborough:
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By James McElhinney
14th Apr 2020 16:48

Thanks - I was muddling my PPR and my Letting Relief. No Letting Relief available in 2020/21 but 9 months of PPR available (reduced from 18 months).

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By Matrix
14th Apr 2020 13:50

I don’t see how it would help making it her PPR since that period is already exempt by virtue of him owning it during that period.

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Scooby
By gainsborough
14th Apr 2020 14:53

OP, assume you are also calculating the gain using the 31.3.82 value rather than cost.

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Replying to gainsborough:
RLI
By lionofludesch
14th Apr 2020 15:03

House prices were very high in March 1982.

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Replying to lionofludesch:
Scooby
By gainsborough
14th Apr 2020 16:53

True.

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