Plan, report and pay CGT correctly, and keep more of every gain.
Zmartly's capital gains tax accountants work out your gain, claim every relief you are entitled to, and file on time, so you never overpay or face an avoidable penalty. CGT catches out more people than it should, on property, shares, crypto and business sales. Usually the problem is a missed relief or a blown deadline, not the rate itself. You get one named accountant, regulated by CIMA, with fixed pricing and replies within 72 hours.
Speak to a capital gains tax specialist
Sold a second home, buy-to-let or inherited property? In 2026/27 residential gains are taxed at 18% (basic rate) or 24% (higher rate). You must report the sale and pay the tax within 60 days of completion. Miss that and HMRC charges penalties from day one. We file the 60-day return for you. We also apply Private Residence Relief (relief for a home you have lived in) and any lettings relief, so you only pay on the genuinely taxable part.
Gains on shares, funds and crypto are taxed at 18% and 24% in 2026/27. The hard part is working out the cost. We handle Section 104 pooling (the rule for averaging the cost of identical shares), plus the same-day and 30-day 'bed and breakfasting' matching rules. For crypto, we pull together your exchange records so the gain, or the allowable loss, is calculated correctly and stands up to HMRC.
Everyone has a tax-free allowance, the annual exempt amount, of £3,000 in 2026/27. We make sure none of it is wasted. We set capital losses against gains in the right order, and register past losses with HMRC (you can claim them for up to four years), so they are banked to cut future bills.
Selling all or part of a trading business, or qualifying company shares? Business Asset Disposal Relief (BADR, once called Entrepreneurs' Relief) can cut your CGT rate to 18% on up to £1m of lifetime gains in 2026/27. The catch is the conditions. You generally need 5% of the shares and voting rights, and to have been an officer or employee, for at least two years. We check these well before completion. Many sellers find out too late that a recent restructure reset the clock.
Transfers between spouses or civil partners pass with no CGT to pay at the time (a 'no gain, no loss' transfer). Gifts of business assets can often be 'held over', so the tax passes to the person receiving the gift rather than falling due now. We plan transfers to use both partners' allowances, spread gains across tax years, and check the Inheritance Tax angle, so a well-meant gift doesn't trigger an unexpected bill.
We report your gains on your Self Assessment return, and reconcile them against any 60-day property return you have already filed, so nothing is double-counted or missed. We keep the records HMRC expects. If a CGT enquiry lands, your named accountant deals with the letters and evidence for you.
Private Residence Relief, BADR, holdover and spousal transfers each have strict timing and ownership tests. We pressure-test your eligibility before you sell, not after. That is the difference between a relief that sticks and one HMRC throws out.
A taxable gain on UK residential property must be reported and paid within 60 days of completion. Late penalties start on day one. We prepare the return ahead of completion, so you're never scrambling, or fined.
You deal with one qualified accountant, regulated by CIMA, who knows your situation, not a call centre. Replies land within 72 hours, and complex disposals get the senior attention they need.
Fixed fees of £99, £199 or £499 depending on complexity, no hourly surprises on top. You know the cost before we start, so the fee never quietly eats the tax you save. Backed by our 30-day money-back guarantee.
We work with Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent and Sage, pulling your disposal records straight from the books. Nothing gets missed, and the figures reconcile first time.
You only pay CGT on the profit when you sell or give away an asset, not the full price. The rate depends on what you sold and your income tax band. The figures below are for the 2026/27 tax year. We confirm each one against your own income before we file.
Your Annual Exempt Amount is £3,000, and you cannot carry it forward. A spouse or civil partner has one too. A large gain sits on top of your income, so part of it can be taxed at the higher rate. We plan around that line. The residential higher rate fell from 28% to 24% in April 2024. Some things stay outside CGT, such as your car and most possessions, the wasting assets and chattels, sold for under £6,000.
| Asset or situation | Rate or amount 2026/27 |
|---|---|
| Residential property (basic rate band) | 18% |
| Residential property (higher rate band) | 24% |
| Other assets, including shares (basic / higher) | 18% / 24% |
| Business Asset Disposal Relief (first £1m of lifetime gains) | 18% |
| Annual Exempt Amount (tax free each year) | £3,000 |
| Report and pay on UK residential property | 60 days |
See also: CGT calculatorCGT explained factsheet
Property is where most CGT bills, and most mistakes, happen. Sell a second home, a buy-to-let or any rental and the gain is taxable. You must report it and pay within 60 days of completion, through your CGT on UK property account. Miss that window and HMRC adds penalties and interest.
Our capital gains tax accountants handle the whole disposal for you. We work out the gain from your base cost and allowable costs. We apply Private Residence Relief for any period you lived there, and check Letting Relief where you shared the home with a tenant. Since 6 April 2025 the furnished holiday let rules have ended, so a holiday home is now taxed as standard residential property. If you are non-resident, we file the return HMRC still requires on UK land. Own it jointly? We use both Annual Exempt Amounts and spread the timing across tax years. Stamp Duty Land Tax is a separate tax the buyer pays on a purchase, and Making Tax Digital changes how rental income is reported, but neither changes your 60-day CGT return on a sale.
See also: Self Assessment tax returns
Shares and crypto are where do-it-yourself sums go wrong. Gains are not worked out one purchase at a time. They use the Section 104 holding, which pools every unit of the same share into a single average base cost. Same-day and 30-day matching rules then apply on top. Cryptoassets follow the same pooling, and HMRC expects every disposal on your tax return. A gift or a crypto-to-crypto swap still counts as a disposal at market value, a deemed disposal, even though no cash changes hands.
We reconcile your trades across each account and exchange, apply the correct base cost, and report the gain on the SA108 pages of your Self Assessment. Gains inside an ISA or pension stay tax free, so we check what is actually chargeable first. If a holding has become worthless, we make a negligible value claim so the loss still counts against other gains. Every figure is documented and ready if HMRC asks.
See also: Specialist crypto tax service
Selling your company is often the biggest gain you will ever make, so the reliefs matter. Business Asset Disposal Relief, once called Entrepreneurs’ Relief, cuts the rate on up to £1m of lifetime gains to 18% for 2026/27, up from 14% the year before. To qualify you generally need 5% of the shares and votes, plus an officer or employee role, for two years. Our capital gains tax specialists check this early, because a recent restructure can reset the clock.
On a solvent liquidation, payments to shareholders are usually treated as capital and can still qualify for BADR. Limited companies pay Corporation Tax on their gains, not CGT, with an indexation allowance on costs frozen at December 2017, so we join the two up. Where BADR does not fit, other reliefs often do:
| Other relief | When it helps |
|---|---|
| Gift Hold-Over Relief | Pass business assets on without an immediate tax bill |
| Rollover Relief | Reinvest the proceeds in new business assets |
| Incorporation Relief | Move a sole trade into a limited company |
| Investors’ Relief | For outside investors, also £1m of lifetime gains at 18% |
See also: HMRC enquiry support
There is no single trick, just steady planning before you sell. The right mix depends on the asset and your wider position. Timing is half the battle: a sale that completes a day either side of 6 April can change which tax year, and which rates, apply. We also weigh CGT against Inheritance Tax, because a transfer that saves one can cost the other. The moves we use most often are below, and every one stays inside HMRC rules.
| Planning move | What it does |
|---|---|
| Use both Annual Exempt Amounts | Transfer to a spouse or civil partner first, then use two £3,000 allowances |
| Spread the disposal | Sell across two tax years to use two years of allowances and bands |
| Offset capital losses | Set this year’s and earlier losses against the gain |
| Defer into EIS or SEIS | Roll the gain into qualifying shares where the risk suits you |
| Hold over a gift | Pass on business assets and defer the gain |
See also: Free Tax Health Check
You do not have to face a one-off disposal alone, and you do not need a year-round contract to get proper advice. Zmartly is a London firm of qualified accountants, regulated by CIMA, with members holding ACMA, CGMA, ACCA and FCCA. One named accountant handles your gain from the first call to the filed return.
Wondering whether you even need an accountant for a single sale? Most people who ask uncover reliefs or losses that more than cover the fee. Whether you searched for a capital gains tax accountant near me or a London firm, you reach the same named expert, and your first conversation is free.
We work from our office at 20-22 Wenlock Road, London N1 7GU, and act for clients in every UK region. Most of the work happens online or by video, so where you live does not change the service or the fee. Call 020 8175 5145 to start.
We charge a fixed fee, agreed before any work starts, so you never face a surprise hourly bill. Most clients find the tax we save more than covers it, and every engagement carries a 30-day money-back guarantee.
A local search often returns firms that do not handle disposals every week. You get a dedicated adviser who does, reachable by phone or video, with replies within 72 hours.
| What you get | Detail |
|---|---|
| Fixed fee, agreed up front | No surprise hourly bill |
| Replies within 72 hours | Faster when a deadline is close |
| 30-day money-back guarantee | Try us with no risk |
| A capital gains tax specialist on the hard parts | One expert, not a call centre |
Understanding your business needs.
Crafting your custom accounting strategy.
Quick and easy integration.
Consistent monitoring and reporting.
CT600 returns, computations, and strategic planning to legitimately reduce your liability.
Read morePersonal tax returns prepared, optimised, and filed for directors, sole traders, and high earners.
Read moreQuarterly planning calls that surface savings before deadlines, not after.
Read moreFull HMRC representation, documentation, and negotiation when an enquiry lands.
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The annual exempt amount, your tax-free slice, is £3,000 for 2026/27 (down from £12,300 in 2022/23). Above that, residential property gains are taxed at 18% (basic rate) and 24% (higher rate). Shares and other assets are now taxed at the same 18% and 24%, after the October 2024 changes. Business Asset Disposal Relief gives an 18% rate on qualifying business sales, up to a £1m lifetime limit, for disposals from 6 April 2026.
Yes. UK residential property disposals with a taxable gain must be reported and the CGT paid within 60 days of completion using HMRC's online service. Missing this triggers automatic penalties even if your full Self-Assessment is later spot on. We handle the 60-day return and the year-end reconciliation as one process so nothing falls through the gap.
PRR exempts the gain on your main home for the period you lived there plus the final 9 months. If you let the property out, lettings relief is now restricted to periods where you shared occupancy with the tenant, most landlords no longer qualify. We calculate the relief by ownership period and use of each room, which often recovers more relief than the rough 'fraction of years' approach.
You need to have held at least 5% of the ordinary shares and voting rights for the 2 years before the sale, been an officer or employee throughout, and the company must be a trading company. The 18% rate (2026/27) then applies on up to £1m of lifetime gains. Common traps: too much cash on the balance sheet can taint trading status, and a recent share restructure can reset the 2-year clock. We screen for these before the sale completes.
Yes, where the asset can be split (shares, plots of land, a portfolio). Disposing in March and again in April uses two annual exempt amounts and potentially two basic-rate bands. For couples, inter-spouse transfers before disposal also double up the allowance and can shift gain to the lower-rate spouse. We model the saving against any transaction or market-timing risk before recommending it.
There are several legitimate ways, and the right mix depends on the asset. We use your £3,000 annual exempt amount, transfer assets between spouses or civil partners so both allowances and tax bands are used, offset current and carried-forward capital losses, time disposals across tax years, and check reliefs such as Private Residence Relief, Business Asset Disposal Relief, Gift Hold-Over Relief and EIS or SEIS deferral. Every step is within HMRC rules and documented on your tax return.
Yes, on UK land and property. Since 2015 non-residents have had to report and pay CGT on disposals of UK residential property, and the rules now extend to commercial property and certain shares in property-rich companies. Reporting is still due within 60 days. We advise non-resident and non-domiciled clients on the gain, available reliefs, and how the disposal interacts with tax in your country of residence.
HMRC charges a penalty plus interest, and it grows with how late and how careless the mistake is. Miss the 60-day property deadline and a late filing penalty starts straight away. Fail to declare a gain at all and the penalty is based on the tax due, from a small percentage for an honest slip up to most of the tax for deliberate concealment. A prompt, well-presented disclosure keeps it as low as possible, and we prepare and submit it for you.
Not by law, but a single disposal is where a small mistake costs the most. A capital gains tax accountant checks the reliefs, the base cost and the matching rules that DIY tools miss, then files to the 60-day or Self Assessment deadline. Most people who ask this find the saving covers the fee. Your first call with us is free, so you can decide with the numbers in front of you.
Thirty minutes with an ACCA-qualified accountant. Most owners uncover £1,000-£3,000 in annual savings on the first call. If we are not the right fit, you walk away with a free tax review on the house.
