Taxation after selling flat abroad

[iamszabo]

Hi,

We moved to the UK in August 2018 and recently decided to stay here permanently. So we sold our flat back at home around £120 000. The flat was purchased in 2012 and we've been living there since we bought it and only relatives lived there since we moved here (without any rental fees). We will use all the money for the mortgage deposit of our new home here soon.

The flat was under my fiancée's name and we want to transfer it to her UK bank account. She is a sole trader and she falls under the Personal Allowance tax band.

Could you help me if we need to pay any kind of tax after we transfer money into her UK bank account?
Does the Private Residence Relief apply to us?

Thanks in advance,

[AGoodman]

Moving the money to the UK does not itself have any tax implications, only the sale itself. (Bringing cash here can make a difference for people on the remittance basis but that is v.unlikely to apply to your fiancée).

V.unlikely there is any tax to pay. PPR will cover the entire period to August 2018, you get a free 18 months taking you to Feb 2020 and any remaining gain (if you sold in March 2020) would be absorbed by her annual gains exemption of £12,000.

The above assumes that the flat was actually legally and beneficially owned by your fiancée and that you exchanged contracts by 5 April 2020 (after that you only get 9 months free).