What is the capital gains tax allowance for 2026/27?

The annual exempt amount for 2026-27 is £3,000 for individuals. Only gains above that figure are taxed, and each spouse or civil partner has their own £3,000.

What rate of capital gains tax do I pay on a second home in Northern Ireland?

From 6 April 2026 gains are taxed at 18% where they fall within your unused basic rate band and 24% above it. The same rates now apply to property and to other assets such as shares.

How long do I have to pay capital gains tax after selling a property?

If you sell a UK residential property and there is tax to pay, you must report the sale to HMRC and pay the tax within 60 days of completion. Interest and penalties can apply if you miss it.

Do I pay capital gains tax on an inherited house?

You do not pay CGT when you inherit, but you may when you sell. Your gain is normally worked out from the value at the date of death used for Inheritance Tax (the probate value), so only growth after that point is taxed.

Do I pay capital gains tax if I give a property to my son or daughter?

Yes, a gift counts as a disposal. HMRC treats you as if you sold it for its market value, so tax can be due even though no money changed hands.

Is capital gains tax different in Northern Ireland?

No. Capital gains tax works the same way across the UK, and the income tax bands that decide your CGT rate are the same in Northern Ireland as in England and Wales.

What is the Business Asset Disposal Relief rate for 2026/27?

For qualifying disposals from 6 April 2026 the rate is 18%, up from 14% in 2025-26. There is a £1 million lifetime limit on gains that can qualify.

Capital gains tax in Northern Ireland: what you'll pay in 2026-27 and when to tell HMRC

Here in Belfast we complete quite a few capital gains tax returns every year, and we have seen a clear rise in people asking about it. Most enquiries come from ordinary situations: selling a flat you used to live in, a buy-to-let you have owned for years, a house left to you by a parent, or shares in a family company.

This guide sets out what capital gains tax (CGT) looks like in Northern Ireland for the 2026-27 tax year, which runs from 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027. CGT rules are the same across the UK, so there is no separate NI system to worry about. What matters is getting the numbers and the deadlines right.

CGT rates for 2026-27

You pay CGT on the gain, which is the increase in value, not on the full sale price. The rate depends on your income for the year, because your gains are added on top of your taxable income.

Who / what	Rate from 6 April 2026
Gains within your unused basic rate band	18%
Gains above the basic rate band	24%
Higher and additional rate taxpayers	24%
Business Asset Disposal Relief (qualifying gains)	18%
Trustees and personal representatives	24%

In earlier years residential property had its own higher rates. That distinction has gone: residential property, shares and other assets now share the same 18% and 24% rates. For 2026-27 the basic rate band in Northern Ireland covers taxable income up to £50,270 (including the £12,570 personal allowance), so how much of that band your salary, pension or rent has already used decides how much of your gain is taxed at 18%. Our tax rates page has the wider set of figures.

The annual exempt amount

Everyone has a CGT annual exempt amount of £3,000 for 2026-27. Only gains above that are taxable. The allowance is per person and cannot be carried forward, so if you do not use it this year, it is gone.

How the gain is worked out

The basic sum is simple:

Sale price, minus what it cost you, minus allowable costs = gain.

Allowable costs include:

solicitors’ and estate agents’ fees on buying and selling
Stamp Duty Land Tax paid when you bought (in Northern Ireland this is SDLT, the same as England)
valuation fees
the cost of improvements, such as an extension or a new conservatory

Routine repairs and redecorating do not count. A new kitchen replacing an old one is a grey area, and it is worth keeping every invoice so we can look at it properly.

Worked example: selling a buy-to-let in Belfast

This example is illustrative only and uses round numbers.

Sarah bought a terraced house in south Belfast in 2012 for £120,000 and let it out. She paid £2,500 in solicitor’s fees and stamp duty. In 2018 she spent £15,000 on a rear extension. She sells in October 2026 for £210,000, with £3,500 of estate agent and legal fees. She has never lived in it. Her other taxable income for 2026-27 is £35,000.

Sale price: £210,000
Less selling costs: £3,500
Less purchase price and buying costs: £122,500
Less improvement (extension): £15,000
Gain: £69,000
Less annual exempt amount: £3,000
Taxable gain: £66,000

Sarah’s income of £35,000 leaves £15,270 of her basic rate band unused (£50,270 minus £35,000).

£15,270 at 18% = £2,748.60
£50,730 at 24% = £12,175.20
Total CGT: £14,923.80

Because this is UK residential property, Sarah must report the sale and pay that tax within 60 days of completion. That is a large bill to find quickly, so it helps to know the figure before the sale goes through.

Selling a second home or buy-to-let

Second homes, holiday homes and rental properties are all within CGT. If the property was never your main home, the whole gain is taxable (after costs and your allowance).

Whether you hold rental property personally or through a company is a separate question, and it changes how a future sale is taxed. Our guide to owning rental property as a sole trader or a limited company covers that choice, and our property and landlords page sets out how we support landlords.

Your main home: private residence relief in outline

You do not usually pay CGT when you sell your own home. Private residence relief covers the gain in full if it has been your only or main home the whole time you owned it, you have not let it out (a lodger is fine), no part was used only for business, and the grounds are under 5,000 square metres.

If it was your home for only part of the time, relief is given for the years you lived there, plus the final 9 months of ownership, which always qualify. A married couple or civil partners can only have one main home at a time. Letting relief now only applies where you lived in the property at the same time as your tenants, and is capped at £40,000.

Inherited property

You do not pay CGT when you inherit something. If you later sell it, your starting cost is the value at the date of death used for Inheritance Tax, often called the probate value. Only the growth after that date is taxed. If a house is sold soon after the death, the gain is often small, but a careless valuation at probate can cause problems later. If the estate itself sells, the executors deal with the tax, at 24% after the estate’s own £3,000 allowance. Our article on Inheritance Tax and Business Property Relief covers the Inheritance Tax side.

Gifts to family

Giving an asset away counts as disposing of it. If you gift a house or shares to a son, daughter or anyone other than your spouse, HMRC uses the market value on the day of the gift, as if you had sold it. Tax can be due even though you received nothing, and for residential property the 60-day deadline still applies. Get a proper valuation and talk to us before transferring anything.

Spouses and civil partners

Transfers between spouses or civil partners who live together are free of CGT. When your spouse later sells, their gain is worked out from your original cost. Each of you has your own £3,000 allowance and your own basic rate band, so joint ownership can change the overall bill. It is worth reviewing who owns what before a sale, not after contracts are signed.

Shares held in an ISA are outside CGT, as are UK government gilts and Premium Bonds. Other shares are taxed at the same 18% and 24% rates. If you bought the same shares at different times, there are special rules for matching sales to purchases, so keep your contract notes.

Selling a business: Business Asset Disposal Relief

Business Asset Disposal Relief (BADR) reduces the rate on qualifying business gains. For disposals from 6 April 2026 the rate is 18%, up from 14% in 2025-26 and 10% before that. There is a lifetime limit of £1 million of gains.

To qualify you generally need to have met the conditions for at least 2 years up to the sale. For a sole trader or partner, you must have owned the business for that time. For company shares, you must hold at least 5% of the shares and voting rights, be an employee or officeholder, and the company must be mainly trading rather than investing.

Because the BADR rate now matches the basic CGT rate, the saving is mainly for higher rate taxpayers (18% instead of 24%). Our business advisory team can look at timing and structure well before a sale.

When to tell HMRC

UK residential property: 60 days. If you sell a UK residential property and there is CGT to pay, you must report and pay within 60 days of completion using HMRC’s online service. If your total gains are within your £3,000 allowance, you do not need to make this return. If you are in Self Assessment, you also include the sale on your tax return. Missing the 60-day deadline can bring interest and penalties.

Other gains: Self Assessment. Gains on shares, business assets and other things are reported on your Self Assessment return for the tax year of the sale. For 2026-27, that means the return and payment due by 31 January 2028. If you are not in Self Assessment, HMRC’s real-time CGT service lets UK residents report by 31 December after the tax year and pay by 31 January. See our key tax dates for 2026-27.

Keep your records

You need proof of what you paid, what you sold for and what you spent in between: purchase and sale contracts, solicitors’ completion statements, stamp duty receipts, improvement invoices and any valuations. HMRC expects you to keep them for at least a year after the Self Assessment deadline, or 5 years for businesses. If paperwork from years ago is missing, we can help rebuild reasonable figures.

Talk to us before you sign, not after

Most of the choices that change a CGT bill (timing, ownership, which costs to claim, whether relief applies) need to be made before contracts are exchanged or a gift is made. Once the sale completes, the 60-day clock is already running.

How Arro Group can help

Arro Group works out your gain, checks every relief you are entitled to, and prepares and files your CGT returns, including the 60-day property return and your Self Assessment. We work with landlords, families dealing with estates and business owners across Belfast and Northern Ireland. Find out more about our personal tax service, or get in touch before your sale and we will give you a clear figure to plan around.