I own a house solely in my name which I purchased approximately 4 years ago. I am now selling the property through an estate agent and have an offer from a buyer. The house has been used as a BTL and there will be a capital gain of over £25k. I understand we can reduce the overall CGT payable by transferring it into the joint names of myself and my spouse before the property is actually sold. There are no open loans or mortgages against the property, which I believe means that the transfer between spouses would not incur an SDLT liability.
Our solicitor has advised that:
1 That if the buyer is taking out a mortgage on the property they will find this difficult to do if the property has not been in joint names for 6 months before it is sold
2 That by agreeing to act on our behalf in this way they would be supporting tax avoidance (not evasion), which they are unable to do.
I have also read elsewhere on this forum that HMRC may attack this transaction because it is designed purely for tax planning. Your advice would be appreciated.
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