Contents
New Year's resolutions
Investment limits
Borrowings and tax
Family tax planning
Mr and Mrs
Give generously and save tax
Jam today, or jam tomorrow?
Tax payback - tax credits
Bringing it back home
Children's pensions?
A matter of trust
Children's savings?
All change for gains
Second homes
Portfolio gains
Capital ideas
Tax-free perks
Employee pensions and NIC
Pension policies
Employee cars and fuel
Business tax
Pay rise for the other half?
Company or trade
Two jobs = too much NIC
Should VAT be flat?
VAT and cash
Inheritance tax
One careful owner
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The property market has been the source of big profits in recent years. Gains on your "only or main residence" are not charged to tax (unless you use part of it exclusively for a business purpose), but a second home or an investment property are chargeable. If you actually use more than one property as a residence, you can choose which one you want to be exempt from CGT. Although this might be the one that you live in most of the time, you are likely to obtain an advantage - and give yourself greater flexibility in the future - if you make an "election" within two years of acquiring the second home. For example, if you decide to sell the second home first, or if the gain on it is larger than the gain on your main home, it might be useful for it to be exempt. You can only elect for a "residence" to be exempt, not an investment property that is let out to others. So a "buy-to-let" property is chargeable to CGT, and receives the lower rate of taper relief (until that's abolished anyway on 6 April 2008). But if you are letting out a property that you have lived in, or you move to live in a property that you have let out, you can enjoy significant extra reliefs.
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