UK Capital Gains Tax: Annual Exempt Amount, Rates, and Reporting

The UK Capital Gains Tax annual exempt amount for 2026/27 is £3,000 for individuals, meaning you can take up to £3,000 of net gains from selling assets in the tax year without paying any CGT. Trustees for disabled people and executors of a deceased person’s estate get the same £3,000 figure; most other trustees get £1,500.1GOV.UK. Capital Gains Tax rates and allowances The allowance runs from 6 April to 5 April the following year, and any portion you don’t use is gone on 6 April. It doesn’t roll forward.

How Much the Allowance Has Shrunk

The £3,000 figure has been frozen since April 2024, but it looks small against where it stood only a couple of tax years earlier:

  • 2022/23: £12,300 for individuals, £6,150 for other trustees
  • 2023/24: £6,000 for individuals, £3,000 for other trustees
  • 2024/25 onwards: £3,000 for individuals, £1,500 for other trustees

The threshold is set under Section 1K of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992.2Legislation.gov.uk. Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 The consequence of the cut is that ordinary share sales, buy-to-let disposals, and even modest crypto profits now push people over the line when the same transactions would have been fully sheltered in 2022/23.

How the Allowance Fits Into Your CGT Calculation

The allowance is applied near the end of the sums, not the beginning. You work out the gain on each disposal first, then combine everything for the year:

  • Start with the disposal proceeds — what you received for the asset.
  • Subtract the original purchase price and buying costs (stamp duty, solicitor fees, surveyor fees).
  • Subtract improvement costs that permanently enhanced the asset. A loft conversion counts; redecoration doesn’t.
  • Subtract selling costs such as estate agent fees, solicitor fees, and auctioneer commissions.

Add together every gain from the tax year, subtract every loss from the tax year, and only then apply the £3,000 annual exempt amount. Whatever’s left is your taxable gain.1GOV.UK. Capital Gains Tax rates and allowances If your net gains are £3,000 or below, you owe no CGT and generally have nothing to report.

Where you have several gains taxed at different rates, apply the exempt amount against the gains taxed at the highest rate first. That’s the choice that leaves you with the smallest bill.

Rates on Gains Above the Allowance

From 6 April 2026, CGT rates are unified across all asset types. The split that used to charge residential property at a higher rate no longer applies.3GOV.UK. Capital Gains Tax: what you pay it on, rates and allowances The rates are:

  • Basic rate taxpayers: 18% on gains that, combined with your taxable income, sit within the basic rate Income Tax band. Any portion above the band is taxed at 24%.
  • Higher or additional rate taxpayers: 24% on all gains.
  • Trustees and personal representatives: 24%.

To work out which rate applies, add your taxable income to your taxable gain (after the £3,000 allowance). The basic rate band for England, Wales, and Northern Ireland covers taxable income up to £50,270, made up of a £12,570 personal allowance and a £37,700 basic rate band.4GOV.UK. Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances Scotland has different income tax bands, but CGT rates are reserved to Westminster and apply UK-wide.

Doubling the Allowance With a Spouse or Civil Partner

Transfers of assets between spouses or civil partners who are living together take place on a “no gain, no loss” basis. No CGT arises at the point of transfer; the recipient inherits the original cost, and the gain crystallises only when the asset is later sold to someone else.5GOV.UK. Capital Gains Tax: what you pay it on, rates and allowances

Two consequences follow. First, a couple effectively has two annual exempt amounts, sheltering up to £6,000 of combined gains each year if the asset is jointly owned or split by transfer before sale. Second, if one partner is a basic rate taxpayer and the other pays higher rate, moving an asset to the lower earner before disposal can drop the rate from 24% to 18% on part or all of the gain. The couple must be living together at the time of the transfer; separated spouses don’t qualify.

Using Losses Alongside the Allowance

Losses in the same tax year come off your gains automatically, before the annual exempt amount is applied. That’s true even if the loss pulls your total net gains below £3,000, so an in-year loss can effectively waste part of the allowance.

Losses carried forward from earlier years work differently. You only have to use enough of the carried-forward loss to bring your net gains down to the £3,000 exempt amount; any remaining loss stays banked for future tax years.6GOV.UK. Capital Gains Tax: If you make a loss To carry a loss forward, you have to report it to HMRC within four years of the end of the tax year in which the disposal happened. Miss that deadline and the loss is lost.

Gains That Never Touch Your Allowance

Some disposals are outside CGT entirely, so they don’t consume any of your £3,000:

Personal possessions have their own rule. If you sell a single item, or a set, for £6,000 or less, no gain needs to be reported. Above £6,000 the gain is taxable and your annual exempt amount can shelter it.9GOV.UK. Personal possessions and Capital Gains Tax 2026 (HS293) Shares held outside a tax wrapper, second homes, buy-to-let property, cryptoassets, and business assets not covered by a specific relief all use the allowance in the ordinary way.5GOV.UK. Capital Gains Tax: what you pay it on, rates and allowances

Reporting Once You Exceed the Allowance

If your net gains are above £3,000, you need to report them. The route depends on what you sold.

Residential property in the UK has an accelerated deadline. You must report the gain and pay the tax within 60 days of completion, using HMRC’s Capital Gains Tax on UK property online service.10GOV.UK. Report and pay your Capital Gains Tax The clock starts on the completion date, not exchange. Missing it triggers an immediate £100 penalty, with further penalties of £300 or 5% of the tax due (whichever is greater) at six and twelve months, plus daily £10 penalties available to HMRC after three months.

Everything else — shares, crypto, personal possessions, and other assets — goes on your annual Self Assessment return using the SA108 Capital Gains Tax summary.11HM Revenue & Customs. Capital Gains Tax summary SA108 2025 Late Self Assessment carries an initial £100 penalty, £10 per day after three months (up to £900), and £300 or 5% of the tax at six and twelve months.12GOV.UK. Self Assessment tax returns: Penalties Late payment interest is charged at 7.75% as of January 2026 and accrues daily until the balance clears.13GOV.UK. HMRC interest rates for late and early payments

Keep receipts, contracts, and calculations for at least five years after the 31 January filing deadline for the relevant tax year.14GOV.UK. Keeping your tax records If you’re close to the £3,000 threshold and considering whether to sell an asset now or in April, the timing decision often comes down to whether you’ll actually use the current year’s allowance for something else. It won’t be waiting for you next year.