UK Capital Gains Tax 2026/27 — Rates, Allowance, How to Pay

Reviewed by Alex Morgan · Updated April 2026 · UK tax year 2026/27 (6 April 2026 → 5 April 2027)

The 2026/27 rate card

Working out which rate applies: stack your taxable income on top of the gain. Whatever portion of the gain sits in the basic-rate band (income up to £50,270 in rUK) is taxed at 18%; the rest is taxed at 24%. Most higher earners pay the 24% rate on their entire gain because their income already fills the basic-rate band.

The £3,000 Annual Exempt Amount

The AEA was £12,300 in 2022/23. The Conservative government cut it to £6,000 from April 2023 and £3,000 from April 2024, where Labour has frozen it until at least April 2028. The compounding effect is severe: a typical buy-to-let landlord realising a £40,000 gain now has £37,000 taxable, vs £27,700 under the old £12,300 AEA — an extra £2,232 of tax at 24% on the same disposal.

Couples each have their own £3,000 AEA. Transferring an asset between spouses before sale is tax-neutral and lets you double the allowance — the standard "spouse-transfer-then-sell" play that good accountants set up every February before 5 April. Civil partners get the same treatment; cohabitees do not.

Worked example — selling £100k of shares

The 60-day property reporting trap

Sell any UK residential property that isn't your main home — buy-to-let, second home, inherited property, shared-ownership, holiday let — and you have 60 days from completion to file a CGT report via HMRC's Capital Gains Tax UK Property Service AND pay the tax. This deadline is non-negotiable; the automatic £100 late-filing penalty applies even if your gain ends up below the AEA after later reliefs.

Many people miss this because they assume CGT goes on the Self Assessment return. It does — you still report the gain again on SA — but the 60-day report comes first. The 60-day payment can be reconciled later via SA if your overall position changes (e.g. losses elsewhere, late-emerging deductions).

Reliefs and exemptions that actually save tax

• Private Residence Relief (PRR) — your main home is fully exempt for the period of occupation plus the final 9 months of ownership. Largest single CGT relief in the UK system.
• Spouse transfer — gifts between spouses/civil partners are tax-neutral. Use this to double the AEA before sale, or to shift the gain to the lower-tax-rate spouse.
• Bed & ISA / Bed & SIPP — sell shares in a general account, immediately re-buy inside an ISA or SIPP. Crystallises gain (often partially absorbed by AEA), shelters future growth.
• Business Asset Disposal Relief — 18% (from April 2026) on the first £1m of qualifying business gains over a lifetime. Strict eligibility: 5%+ shareholding, employee/director for ≥2 years, trading company.
• EIS / SEIS deferral and exemption — invest gains into qualifying EIS shares within 36 months to defer; SEIS gives 50% direct exemption on £200k/year.
• Loss carry-forward — capital losses can be carried forward indefinitely (claim within 4 years) and netted against future gains. Critical for active traders/crypto investors.
• Gift Hold-over Relief — gift business assets to family without triggering CGT immediately; the recipient takes on the original cost basis.

Common Capital Gains Tax mistakes

• Assuming crypto is exempt — HMRC treats crypto-to-crypto swaps as disposals. Each trade triggers CGT calculation. Exchange data is now reported under the OECD CARF rules from 2026.
• Forgetting share-pooling rules — you can't cherry-pick which shares you sold. HMRC uses the Section 104 pool average cost.
• Ignoring the "30-day rule" — buying back shares within 30 days of selling them defeats the loss claim (the "bed and breakfast" rule).
• Missing the 60-day property deadline — see above.
• Not claiming losses — losses must be claimed on the SA return within 4 years of the tax year-end. Miss the window and the loss is gone.
• Failing to deduct allowable costs — SDLT, legal fees on purchase, capital improvements all reduce the gain. Many DIY filers forget these.

Pair this with

• → UK Self Assessment 2026/27 — where most non-property CGT lands
• → UK 60% tax trap 2026/27 — pension contributions to bring income below £100k before crystallising gains
• → UK Marriage Allowance 2026 — companion to the spouse-transfer CGT play
• → UK salary sacrifice 2026/27 — cut income tax band to keep gains in 18% rate
• → UK Statutory Rates 2026/27 (open dataset) — every band cited above

Sources

1. gov.uk — Capital Gains Tax
2. gov.uk — CGT rates
3. HMRC — 30 Oct 2024 CGT rate change announcement
4. gov.uk — Business Asset Disposal Relief
5. gov.uk — Report and pay CGT on UK property within 60 days
6. Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992