Capital Gains Tax on Second House

[cantonarules]

I recently built a second residence on the same road that I live and I hope to sell this property in a few months. Are there any ways that I can avoid paying capital gains tax?

 

[Creditlimit]

I recently built a second residence on the same road that I live and I hope to sell this property in a few months. Are there any ways that I can avoid paying capital gains tax?

You could move into it, making it your principle private residence and and then sell it thus avoiding cgt...

 

[Joe1234]

Are there any ways that I can avoid paying capital gains tax?

Revenue could argue that the building of a 2nd house with the intention to sell it constitutes a trade and therefore any profit you make on the sale would be taxable under income tax. Depending on your circumstances, level of income, etc, you could end up paying 41% tax on the profit. You really should have got professional advice before you started the job.

 

[Joe1234]

You could move into it, making it your principle private residence and and then sell it thus avoiding cgt...

For a house to become a PPR, do you not have to be living in it for at least a year?

 

[ClubMan]

No - there is no specific time limit. But if you were just doing this to avoid tax then it could fall foul of Revenue's anti-avoidance rules. Tax evasion is illegal. Tax avoidance is not. Except when Revenue decide that a deal artificially structured purely to avoid tax falls foul of their anti-avoidance rules. One way or another independent, professional advice is probably the best idea in this context.