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Capital Gains Tax can become a major consideration when selling, gifting, transferring, or restructuring valuable assets. Whether you are disposing of property, shares, business interests, investment assets, or inherited wealth, the tax position is rarely as simple as looking at the sale price.
Capital Gains Tax is charged on the gain you make when an asset has increased in value, not on the full amount you receive. HMRC applies CGT to a wide range of chargeable assets, including second homes, investment properties, shares outside an ISA, personal possessions over certain limits, and business assets.
At ASWATAX, we provide specialist Capital Gains Tax advice for individuals, landlords, investors, business owners, trustees, and families with complex tax affairs. Our role is to help you understand the tax exposure, identify available reliefs, plan disposals properly, and avoid unnecessary tax liabilities before decisions are made.
Why You Need Specialist Capital Gains Tax Advice
Capital Gains Tax planning is not just about calculating a gain after the event. The greatest opportunities usually come before a sale, transfer, or restructure takes place. Once a disposal has completed, your options may be far more limited.
Understanding What Triggers CGT
CGT can arise when you sell an asset, gift it, exchange it, transfer it, or dispose of it in another way. This can include property sales, share disposals, business exits, transfers between connected parties, and certain gifts to family members.
Professional advice helps you understand whether a disposal has taken place, when the disposal date falls, and whether market value rules apply. These details matter because they can directly affect the amount of tax due and the deadline for reporting it.
Making Use of Allowances and Reliefs
The annual exempt amount for individuals is £3,000 for the 2026/27 tax year, with a lower allowance for most trustees. Any gains above the available allowance may be taxable, so careful planning around timing, ownership, losses, and reliefs can make a meaningful difference.
Depending on the asset and circumstances, reliefs may be available. These can include Private Residence Relief, Business Asset Disposal Relief, gift relief, incorporation relief, rollover relief, or loss offsetting. The rules are technical, and eligibility often depends on how the asset has been used, owned, funded, or transferred.
Planning Before Property Disposals
Property is one of the most common areas where Capital Gains Tax becomes complex. This may include buy-to-let properties, second homes, inherited properties, mixed-use properties, development land, or property held through business structures.
UK residential property gains may also need to be reported and paid within strict timeframes. CGT that is due on a disposal of UK residential property generally remains payable within 60 days of completion, making early planning essential.
Capital Gains and Share Disposal Planning
Dividend and Profit Extraction Planning
Corporate Tax Complexity
Comprehensive Business Restructuring Tax Advice
Our Capital Gains Tax Advice Services
Our Capital Gains Tax services cover every stage of planning, reporting, and strategic decision-making. We combine technical expertise with practical guidance, ensuring your position is understood before action is taken.
Property Capital Gains Tax Advice
We advise on Capital Gains Tax for a wide range of property disposals, including buy-to-let properties, second homes, holiday lets, inherited properties, and transfers between family members. Our support includes reviewing available reliefs, allowable costs, probate values, main residence relief, and connected-party rules to help manage tax exposure and plan disposals efficiently.
Investment and Share Disposal Advice
Share Portfolio Gains: Reviewing gains on shares and investments held outside ISAs or tax-exempt wrappers.
Investment Planning: Coordinating disposals across tax years to make use of allowances, losses, and ownership structures.
Cryptoasset CGT Advice: Advising on CGT implications of selling, exchanging, gifting, or otherwise disposing of cryptoassets.
Loss Relief Planning: Identifying allowable capital losses and using them strategically against current or future gains.
Joint Ownership Planning: Reviewing how jointly owned assets are taxed and whether ownership structure is still appropriate.
Investment and Share Disposal Advice
Share Portfolio Gains: Reviewing gains on shares and investments held outside ISAs or tax-exempt wrappers.
Investment Planning: Coordinating disposals across tax years to make use of allowances, losses, and ownership structures.
Cryptoasset CGT Advice: Advising on CGT implications of selling, exchanging, gifting, or otherwise disposing of cryptoassets.
Loss Relief Planning: Identifying allowable capital losses and using them strategically against current or future gains.
Joint Ownership Planning: Reviewing how jointly owned assets are taxed and whether ownership structure is still appropriate.
Business Asset and Exit Planning
Business Asset Disposal Relief: Reviewing eligibility and structuring qualifying disposals where relief may apply.
Share Sale Planning: Advising shareholders before selling shares in a trading company or investment company.
Management Buyouts and Succession: Planning tax-efficient ownership transfers, exits, or internal sales.
Company Restructuring: Managing CGT implications during reorganisations, demergers, share exchanges, and capital reductions.
Deferred Consideration: Advising on sale proceeds paid over time, earn-outs, instalments, and valuation issues.
How Our Capital Gains Tax Advice Works
Understanding Your Position
We start by getting a clear picture of the asset, how it was acquired, how it has been used, and what you want to achieve. This includes reviewing ownership, base cost, improvements, current value, expected sale price, timing, income position, and wider tax considerations.
This gives us the context needed to identify the real CGT risk, not just the headline gain.
Reviewing Reliefs and Planning Opportunities
Once we understand the position, we assess which allowances, deductions, reliefs, and planning opportunities may be available. This could include timing the disposal, using capital losses, reviewing ownership between spouses or civil partners, considering relief eligibility, or restructuring before a sale.
The aim is always to reduce tax exposure legally and commercially, without creating unnecessary complexity.
Preparing the CGT Calculation
We prepare a clear CGT calculation, showing how the gain is worked out and what assumptions have been used. This may include original acquisition costs, legal fees, estate agent fees, improvement costs, valuations, relief claims, and available allowances.
You receive a clear explanation of the position, so you understand what is due, why it is due, and what options remain available.
Coordinating with Your Wider Advisers
Where required, we work alongside your accountant, solicitor, financial planner, estate agent, or corporate finance team. This is particularly important for property sales, business exits, family transfers, trust planning, and company restructures.
Our role is to ensure tax is considered properly before documents are signed or transactions are completed.
Reporting and Ongoing Support
If a gain needs to be reported, we support the filing process and help ensure deadlines are met. For clients with wider planning needs, we also provide ongoing advice to manage future disposals, investment structures, estate planning, or business exits.
CGT planning is rarely a one-off exercise. As asset values, family circumstances, tax rules, and commercial objectives change, your strategy should be reviewed.
Speak to a Capital Gains Tax Specialist at ASWATAX
At ASWATAX, we help individuals, families, investors, landlords, trustees, and business owners make confident decisions before CGT becomes a problem. Whether you are selling a property, disposing of shares, transferring assets to family, or preparing for a business exit, our specialists can help you understand the tax position and identify the most efficient way forward.
Prefer to Talk First?
Get in touch today to discuss your Capital Gains Tax position with one of our specialists and take the next step towards a clearer, more tax-efficient plan.
Frequently Asked Questions.
Here is a list of the most frequently asked questions from our clients.
