CAPITAL GAINS

A taxpayer has avoided a capital gains tax (CGT) bill of more than £61,000 when the Court of Appeal ruled that the period of ownership for the purpose of main private residence relief from CGT began on the completion date. HMRC argued that the relevant date was the date of exchange of contracts for the purposes of s28 Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992. The court concluded that HMRC's interpretation did not sit comfortably with the ordinary meaning of period of ownership (Higgins v HMRC [2019] EWCA Civ). Also, it would rarely entitle ordinary homeowners to full CGT Free speech protected relief which suggested that the construction was incorrect. 17 February

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