Capital gains tax
does not care where you live.
Almost everything on this site is about buying. This page is about the other end, because the moment that catches overseas owners out is the one nobody told them existed. The few figures on it carry their official source and the date we last checked them.
Short answer
If you are not UK resident, selling or otherwise disposing of UK residential property still brings you within the scope of UK capital gains tax, whatever your own country does about the same sale.
An individual must report it to HMRC within 60 days of completion, even if no tax is due, and pay any tax due within the same 60 days. Non-resident companies pay Corporation Tax instead.
What owners from abroad
most often do not know.
None of this is a calculation and none of it replaces an accountant. It is the shape of the thing, so that you know there is something to ask about and roughly when to ask it.
It reaches you where you live, which is nowhere near the flat
Buyers often assume a tax on selling UK property is something UK residents deal with. It is not. Disposing of UK residential property brings a non-resident within the scope of UK capital gains tax, whatever your own country does about the same sale.
That does not mean paying twice. Your country may give relief for tax paid here, or the two systems may interact in some other way. What it does mean is that the UK side exists and does not go away because you are elsewhere.
There is a 60-day deadline, and it is not the tax return
This is the part that costs people money. If you are not UK resident and you sell or otherwise dispose of UK residential property, you must report it to HMRC and pay any capital gains tax due within 60 days of completion.
That applies even if there is no tax to pay, if you made a loss, or if you are already registered for Self Assessment; reporting or paying late can bring interest and a penalty.
The report is made through an online Capital Gains Tax on UK property account, separately from any annual return you may or may not file. If you already file a Self Assessment return, the disposal goes on that return as well. Rental income is a separate obligation; if you let while living in Türkiye, see declaring rental income and NRLS. Line up an accountant before completion rather than after, because 60 days passes quickly once the money has moved.
The gain is not the sale price minus what you paid
Costs of buying and selling, certain improvement works, and the way the starting value is established can all change the figure. For property held from before the non-resident rules applied, the calculation may not start from the original purchase price at all.
Every one of those adjustments needs evidence you either kept or did not. This is the strongest practical argument for talking to an accountant when you buy rather than when you sell.
It is calculated in sterling, and your currency is not
The gain is measured in pounds. A sale that looks like a loss in your own currency can still be a sterling gain, and a sterling gain can be a real loss to you once the exchange rate is applied at both ends.
Neither is unusual for an overseas owner and neither is a reason to avoid buying. It is a reason to keep the transfer records, and to be clear which currency any number you are quoted is in.
The figures that matter,
with the date we checked them.
We are not tax advisers and this site says so on eighteen pages. A figure printed on a tax page becomes wrong the moment it changes, and you would have no way of knowing which.
So this page carries only the figures an owner abroad cannot afford to miss, each with its official source and the date we last checked it, and no worked example. If that date is old, check the source again before relying on it.
- 60 days from completion to report and pay, for an individual who is not UK resident and disposes of UK residential property, even when no tax is due.
- 18% or 24% on an individual’s gains from 6 April 2026: 18% on the part that falls within the basic rate band once added to your taxable income, 24% on the rest.
- £3,000 tax-free allowance (the Annual Exempt Amount) for an individual in the 2026 to 2027 tax year.
- Companies that are not UK resident pay Corporation Tax on gains from UK property and report them on a Corporation Tax return instead.
What we can do is tell you the question exists, introduce you to an accountant who works with overseas owners, and make sure the paperwork you will need years from now is kept from the start. The answer itself belongs to someone qualified to give it and accountable for it.
Last checked on 14 October 2026 against HMRC and GOV.UK: reporting a disposal if you are not UK resident · rates · tax-free allowance. General information, not advice on your own position; ask your accountant.
The costs you can
work out today.
Everything on the buying side is knowable now, which is the opposite of this page.
Ask before you buy,
not before you sell.
The records that make a future disposal straightforward are the ones kept from day one. We will introduce you to someone who can tell you which they are.
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