Autumn Statement 2013: Non-residents to pay CGT on UK property sales

Non-residents will have to pay capital gains tax (CGT) on residential property sales in the UK from April 2015, reversing the current rule, George Osborne announced today.

The Chancellor said that, though the UK "welcomes investment from all over the world", it was unfair that UK residents pay CGT when they sell a home that is not their primary residence, while non-residents did not. Osborne was delivering his Autumn Statement in the House of Commons this morning. The government said a consultation on how best to introduce the new CGT charge will be published in early 2014. However, forecasts in the latest statement estimate the tax will only start to raise money from 2016-17 fiscal year, and the impact will be negligble, only raising £15m additional...