Capital gains tax

Cap­i­tal Gains Tax (CGT) is payable by indi­vid­u­als, trustees and ‘per­son­al rep­re­sen­ta­tives’ (PRs). Com­pa­nies pay cor­po­ra­tion tax on their cap­i­tal gains.

There are annu­al tax free allowances (the ‘annu­al exempt amount’) for indi­vid­u­als, trustees and PRs. Com­pa­nies do not have an annu­al exempt amount.

For indi­vid­u­als net gains are added to ‘total tax­able income’ to deter­mine the appro­pri­ate rate of tax. The stan­dard rate applies only to the net gains which, when added to total tax­able income do not exceed the ‘basic rate band’.

Gains which qual­i­fy for ‘Investors’ Relief’ are charged at 18% (14% for 2025/26) for the first £10m of qual­i­fy­ing gains.

Gains which qual­i­fy for ‘Busi­ness Asset Dis­pos­al Relief’ are charged at 18% (14% for 2025/26) for the first £1 mil­lion.

The high­er rate applies to high­er rate and addi­tion­al rate tax­pay­ers.