I own a garage in a block of garages just up the road from my house. I bought it with the house. I am now selling the garage for £32k, while continuing to live in the house (which is my main residence). Is the sale tax-free or is it subject to CGT/other taxes? Are there any implications for the tax-free status of my home?
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Hi again Womble, sorry it's me again, I'm still not an HMRC-er.
A word of advice. This forum is no substitute for the services an accountant could provide you with. If you find yourself coming here on a regular basis, it may mean that your affairs are complicated enough to justify (maybe even necessitate) engaging an accountant.
The question you ask this time is one of fact, as much as law. There isn't a special rule for garages and the issue is whether the garage is part of your home (or, more precisely, part of the dwelling-house you call home). That's a matter of fact. If, on the facts, the garage is part of the dwelling-house, then the main residence exemption exemption is in point in relation to the garage. (Worth adding that HMRC takes a fairly pragmatic approach. The garage can be physically separate from the dwelling-house but still be treated as part of it. That's often the case with flats, of course.)
One matter of law is that, if you've just moved in, are doing the place up with a view to a quick sale and are maximising the return by selling the garage separately, it might not be tax-free anyway. There are other caveats.
So the only honest answer anyone can give here is: it depends.
It would be nice to see it, but it sounds to me like the situation I've had all around me since I left my parents' place -garages in blocks slightly separate from their houses. And what there's been around me... well, I wouldn't expect HMRC to take issue with any of them.
I'd just be repeating Tax Dragon's first post. It depends on whether it's part of your residence.
As you bought it with the residence, it sounds like it is.