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Tax accountant recommendations

NeilR

pfm Member
My wife and I sold our UK house last year and we are having some issues with HMRC re the capital gains tax that is payable on the sale. Our calculations do not agree with the HMRC calculations and my wife's bill is an order or magnitude higher than mine despite us putting the exactly the same values in our self assessment forms.

I think we are going to need the services of a UK based tax accountant to help clarify the matter and argue the case with HMRC.

Can anyone from the PFM community recommend a good tax accountant that might be able to help?

Thanks in advance for any recommendations.
 
ah the joys of capital gains tax . we are hoping to get a valuer to do a cgt valuation soon and then fill in that dreaded cgt form . the annoying thing is that even if you sell a house at a discount to a family member you have to pay cgt on the full market value which is a pain i think . I rather like the hmrc tax calculator . hope you get sorted , i guess we each have to pay different amounts because our salaries are different perhaps

https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/calculate-your-capital-gains/resident/properties/disposal-date
 
Thanks for the link and thanks to the others for the Private messages.

We used the calculator (actually the non resident cgt calculator) before selling our house to be sure our liability was not too high and it computed a CGT liability of £0 for both of us.

however HMRC said that i have to pay £1600 and my wife has to pay £37,000 GGT!

They have messed up somewhere but it is very had to get through to the right people on the phone. We might be getting somewhere now though.
 
Not sure if you got sorted but I have a terrier of an accountant in Hull who seems to relish taking HMRC on, winning a recent one for me for a fee of £190. She is trained by one of the big firms but is now self-employed and charges 50 an hour.
 
the annoying thing is that even if you sell a house at a discount to a family member you have to pay cgt on the full market value which is a pain i think

Probably because it looks an awful lot like tax evasion/avoidance Phil, even if you’re just trying to do your kids a favour.
 
Wow Neil, 37k sounds a bit mad !!!! If it's a primary residence do you have to pay cgt?

This was our primary residence from 1996 until 2011 when we left the country. Since april 2015 non residents are obliged to pay CGT on property sales, but only on the gain since April 2015. We submitted to them all of the information as well as a professional valuation made in 2015 and the gain for both of us is below the CGT threshold according the HMRC NRCGT calculator.

they have obviously made a mistake and in a phone call to them this week a technician admitted to my wife that her bill was wrong, but we need to see something in writing...
 
I assume that you both get the £12K (?) c.g.a., making £24K. c.g.t. above that is charged at 18% (for lower band payers). It's hard to imagine the profit you'd make in 3 or 4 years to justify anything much above the allowance. I recently had my maisonette, bought 8 years ago, on the market at a potential 56% profit. The sale fell through, but my expected c.g. payment, shared with my wife, was between £3K and £4K. Okay, bargain basement property comparatively, but indicative, I think.
 
Probably because it looks an awful lot like tax evasion/avoidance Phil, even if you’re just trying to do your kids a favour.

yes i know it seems like tax avoidance but it still rankles . like giving your son an expensive mountain bike which you have paid 20% vat and then you have to pay a further tax for the privelige of giving it. !
 
Tax evasion= naughty 'cos you're deliberately trying to reduce/avoid tax by legally dubious means (off-shore stuff?)
Tax avoidance = using known and legal ways to reduce/avoid tax (ISA, e,g.)

Or is it t'other way round? Easily confused normally, but after a few Saturday afternoon glasses, more so, but think that's right.
 
I assume that you both get the £12K (?) c.g.a., making £24K. c.g.t. above that is charged at 18% (for lower band payers). It's hard to imagine the profit you'd make in 3 or 4 years to justify anything much above the allowance. I recently had my maisonette, bought 8 years ago, on the market at a potential 56% profit. The sale fell through, but my expected c.g. payment, shared with my wife, was between £3K and £4K. Okay, bargain basement property comparatively, but indicative, I think.

ours was only a 3 bed semi so nothing out of the ordinary.
 
My wife and I sold our UK house last year and we are having some issues with HMRC re the capital gains tax that is payable on the sale. Our calculations do not agree with the HMRC calculations and my wife's bill is an order or magnitude higher than mine despite us putting the exactly the same values in our self assessment forms.

I think we are going to need the services of a UK based tax accountant to help clarify the matter and argue the case with HMRC.

Can anyone from the PFM community recommend a good tax accountant that might be able to help?

Thanks in advance for any recommendations.

PM me if you haven’t found anyone, mine is in Manchester, she’s very good, I’m in London, she’s happy to work through emails, you don’t need to meet, her fees are reasonable, she’s quick, she knows how HMRC works.
 
As an update to this, after some long calls to HMRC, they have agreed that their calculations for both my wife and I were wrong and and our capital gains tax liability for the house sale was below the threshold so nothing to pay!

so in the end, a lot of stress for nothing. Thanks anyway to all who replied with suggestions of people who could help. Fortunately, not needed!
 
Tax evasion= naughty 'cos you're deliberately trying to reduce/avoid tax by legally dubious means (off-shore stuff?)
Tax avoidance = using known and legal ways to reduce/avoid tax (ISA, e,g.)

Or is it t'other way round? Easily confused normally, but after a few Saturday afternoon glasses, more so, but think that's right.
Tax evasion = illegal, lying to taxman.
Tax avoidance = using legal means *in a way in which they were not intended* so clever stuff like setting up shell companies, employing your mum as "Secretary" to gain a second tax allowance, etc. Legal, but immoral.
Tax planning = using legal means as they were intended, eg ISAs, paying into pensions tax free, etc. Legal and moral, HMRC want us to pay into pensions so we are not a burden later in life, so they make it worth our while.
 
As an update to this, after some long calls to HMRC, they have agreed that their calculations for both my wife and I were wrong and and our capital gains tax liability for the house sale was below the threshold so nothing to pay!

so in the end, a lot of stress for nothing. Thanks anyway to all who replied with suggestions of people who could help. Fortunately, not needed!
Very worrying for those without the stomach or capacity for that kind of fight. No wonder the elderly stuff notes under the mattress, a habit I should start to adopt.
 


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