Principle Primary Residence

[Charlesk]

I live with my wife in Lincoln in a house that I own. However, I work in London. If I buy a second home in London, can I decalre this as my PPR whilst my wife maintains her PPR as being the property in Lincoln? I ask because, say I buy the London property now and sell both properties in say 3 years I would like to avoid having to pay any CGT. Would my approach work?

Thanks

Charles

[Simon Dewsberry]

Sounds reasonably to me.

As long as all bills are split with ner name in lin and yours in Lon to show that this is the case - Dont see why you could not officially "live apart"

I am sure that our resident tax expert will pass comment shortly !

Simon

[Melboy]

The professional answer to this question will ultimately come from PLYM 77 but I have a certain feeling that you are not permitted to do this under Inland Revenue rules as you state you are married.

[Simon Dewsberry]

Hi Mel

what if you are "estranged"

Simon

[Melboy]

Hi Mel

what if you are "estranged"

Simon

Dunno! But the IR are wise to all the tricks that people try on. The only way you can get away with it is to be single persons. Being seperated does not count I would bet.

[plym77]

Hi all

Apologies for the delay, I have been away for the bank holiday.

In answer to your query, a married couple can only have one PPR at at any one time.

Where a married couple separate or are divorced there is an Extra Statutory Concession which basically says that the spouse leaving the matrimonial home can continue to claim PPR on that property providing that throughout the period the 'residing spouse' continues to occupy the property as the PPR AND the leaving spouse has not acquired a PPR in his/her absence from the property - PPR being available until transfer in this situation.

If you are genuinely separated and the leaving spouse wants to have another PPR, they can in place of their matrimonial PPR (which would lose PPR on election of another property) - but this is genuine separation, any artificial separation is likely to be fairly obvious.

However, consider a temporary election on your second home. An election within 2 years of purchase of home no/2 for say 1 month (and then remember to vary it back to the original property!) would enable the final 3 years of ownership of a second home to be exempt under PPR exemption. Therefore a sale of home no/2 within 3 years would mean that the gain was completely exempt. For property 1, you will have lost 1 months PPR, however in reality this may well be covered by taper relief and your CGT Annual Exemptions (provided the CGT AE's werent used elsewhere).

There are also strutures you can put in place if you intend to hold the second property for more than 3 years, using a Trust for example, which can reduce tax exposure.

Should you require any specific tax advice, please do contact me to discuss this further. In the meantime, I hope this helps clarify the issue.

Regards

Sherena