Disposed of UK residential property before 5 April 2025?

For many, there was a push to get residential property sales over the line before the stamp duty land tax increase from 6 April 2025.

If you disposed of UK residential property, that had not been used as your main or only home for the entire period you owned it, you may be able to postpone the due date for capital gains tax. This article explains this further.

Once a sale has completed, usually the disposal must be reported to HMRC via a ’60-day return’ using the Capital Gains Tax on UK property account. This must be submitted, and the tax paid, within 60 days of completion. For UK tax residents, this is only necessary if there is a tax liability.*

However, there is an exception. The 60-day return is generally not required if the disposal is disclosed on the self-assessment tax return before the 60-day return deadline. Crucially, in this case the 60-day deadline for paying the tax is also disapplied and the payment falls due on the normal self-assessment payment date.

For example, if you completed on 15 March 2025, provided you submit your tax return disclosing the disposal by 14 May 2025, you can avoid the need to complete a ’60-day return’ and, most importantly, delay the payment of tax from 14 May 2025 to 31 January 2026.

Therefore, reporting the gain on a tax return as opposed to the ’60-day return’ can afford cash flow advantages and allow you to keep hold of your sales proceeds for longer.

There is one exception to this, where reporting on your tax return results in a lower liability than that which would have been reportable on a 60-day return, you will still be required to submit the 60-day return online. This will be rare but can occur where further disposals are made in the same tax year which result in a capital loss.

If you have recently sold your residential property, please do get in touch with our expert team of tax advisors to discuss your circumstances and help you navigate the reporting process.

* If you are a non-resident, you will be required to disclose the disposal or UK land or property irrespective of whether a tax liability has arisen.