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Fact check: What are the current UK tax rates for capital gains on foreign assets?
Executive Summary
The UK capital gains tax (CGT) rates applied to foreign assets in the supplied analyses are inconsistent: several consumer guides report rates of 18%/28% or 10%/28% depending on asset type and income tax band, while HMRC-focused notes emphasize that residential property rates remained at 18%/24% after the 30 October 2024 changes. The core point of agreement is that chargeable rates depend on an individual’s income tax band and the asset type, but the precise percentage and annual exempt amount differ across the sources provided [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7].
1. Why the rates appear to contradict — parsing the headline figures
The materials present three different headline rate regimes: one set asserts 18% and 24% for residential property disposals tied to income bands [5] [6], another set states 18% and 28% for residential property with higher band payers at 28% [1] [3] [7], and a third describes 10%/20% or 18%/28% splits depending on asset class and whether the taxpayer is in the basic or higher/additional rate bands [3]. These contradictions arise because the sources mix guidance for residential property, other assets, and changes effective around 30 October 2024, so a reader can easily conflate post-change rates with earlier published guidance. The supplied HMRC-oriented notes underline that rates for residential property were left unchanged at 18% and 24% for certain disposals, which creates the clearest institutional anchor in this dataset [5] [6].
2. What the sources say about the income-band mechanism and asset distinction
All sources agree on the fundamental mechanism: the effective CGT rate for an individual is determined by how the gain falls within the remaining income tax basic rate band and by asset type (residential property vs other assets), so that part of a gain can be taxed at a basic-rate CGT level and the remainder at a higher-rate level [3]. Consumer guides emphasize that basic-rate taxpayers pay the lower rate and higher/additional rate taxpayers the higher rate, but their numerical lower and upper rates differ across guides [1] [7]. HMRC materials focus on administrative treatment tied to the 30 October 2024 change and the temporary non-residence rules, stressing that timing of disposal can affect which rates apply [4] [5].
3. Conflicting annual exempt amounts and what that implies for calculations
The analyses disagree on the CGT annual exempt amount: one set cites £3,000 for 2025/26 [1], while another references £6,000 for 2023/24 [7]. These figures are not mutually exclusive if they reflect different tax years, but the materials do not consistently tie the exemption level to a specific tax year across claims, which produces apparent contradictions when readers try to compute liabilities. The practical implication is that taxpayers must align the correct annual exemption to the tax year of disposal when calculating taxable gains, and the supplied HMRC-focused notes implicitly caution that changes introduced in late October 2024 can affect which year’s rules apply to particular disposals [4] [5].
4. The timing rule and non-resident/temporary non-resident complications that change the headline rates
HMRC-focused entries in the dataset underline a key administrative complexity: disposals treated as accruing before or after 30 October 2024 may be taxed under different rate frameworks, and temporary non-resident rules can cause gains to be treated as accruing earlier, affecting which statutory rates apply [4] [5]. This timing nuance explains why some guides cite older bands (18%/28%) while HMRC notes maintain that residential property rates for certain disposals remained 18%/24% [5]. The takeaway is that rate reconciliation requires knowing the disposal date, residency status, and whether special non-residence rules apply—details that consumer-facing guides sometimes omit or summarize differently [2] [3].
5. How to reconcile these sources if you need a definitive figure for planning
To reconcile the conflicting figures in practice, taxpayers must first identify three facts: the type of asset (residential or other), the tax year and disposal date relative to 30 October 2024, and the taxpayer’s income tax band for that year. The supplied HMRC-oriented analyses provide the authoritative procedural anchor on timing and unchanged residential property rates for certain disposals [5] [6], while consumer guides supply practical examples that may use different fiscal years to state 18%/28% or 10%/28% outcomes [1] [3]. Given the dataset’s inconsistencies, the prudent next step is to consult the current HMRC guidance for the specific disposal date and tax year and to calculate gains using the correct annual allowance for that year [4] [5].
Overall, the supplied materials consistently show the CGT framework’s dependence on asset type, income band, and timing, but they diverge on exact percentages and allowance levels because they reference different asset categories and possibly different tax years; the HMRC-focused entries provide the most explicit caveat about the 30 October 2024 change that explains many of the apparent contradictions [4] [5] [6].