Question:
Can I clarify the capital gains tax liability on the sale of a buy-to-let property please? Is it calculated on the gain once the mortgage is paid off? For example, I purchased a property for £100,000 and sold it for £650,000 but had a mortgage on it of £450,000, so is the gain £200,000?
Arthur Weller replies:
If you look at HMRCs Capital Gains manual pages CG14200 and CG15284, you can see that your capital gain is going to be £550,000. The mortgage is irrelevant for capital gains tax purposes.
