If you sold UK residential property on or after 6 April 2020 and made a taxable gain, you must report it and pay any Capital Gains Tax due within 60 days of the completion date, not the date you exchanged contracts. This applies whether you are selling a buy-to-let, a second home, or another property that is not your main residence. Miss the deadline and you may face interest and a penalty on top of the tax itself.
What is the 60-day rule?
The 60-day rule requires anyone who sells UK residential property and has Capital Gains Tax to pay to report the sale and pay the tax within 60 days of completion, using HMRC's Capital Gains Tax on UK property service. Completion is the day you stop being the legal owner, not the day you agreed the sale or exchanged contracts, and it is this date the 60 days runs from.
The clock starts from completion regardless of when you actually receive the sale proceeds. If your solicitor completes the sale on a Friday, day one of the 60 days is that Friday.
Who has to report, and who does not?
If you are a UK resident, you do not need to report your gains through this online service if your total taxable gains for the year are below your tax-free Capital Gains Tax allowance. This is confirmed directly on gov.uk's guidance for reporting property sales. If your gain is below the allowance, or reduced below it by a relief such as Private Residence Relief, there is nothing to report through this route.
If you are not a UK resident, the position is stricter: you must report every sale or disposal of UK land or property within the deadline, even if no tax is due and even if you make a loss. Non-residents cannot rely on the "gain below the allowance" exemption that UK residents can use.
If you are reporting on behalf of someone else, such as under a power of attorney, or on behalf of an estate as a personal representative, different processes apply, and you cannot use your own online account to pay a gain made by an estate; HMRC tells personal representatives separately how to pay once the gain is reported.
What rate of Capital Gains Tax applies?
Since 30 October 2024, residential property gains are taxed at the same rates as other chargeable assets: there is no longer a separate, higher rate just for property.
The annual exempt amount for 2026/27 is £3,000 for individuals and personal representatives (£1,500 for most other trustees). Both the rates and the allowance are confirmed on gov.uk's Capital Gains Tax rates and allowances page.
Worked example: gain, band split and deadline
Example. A landlord completes the sale of a buy-to-let on 10 September 2026. After deducting the original purchase price, buying and selling costs, and improvement costs, the taxable gain works out at £43,000. The landlord's other taxable income for 2026/27 uses up their basic rate band, so the whole gain falls above the basic rate threshold.
First, deduct the annual exempt amount: £43,000 minus £3,000 = £40,000 taxable gain. Because this falls entirely above the landlord's basic rate band, it is all taxed at 24%. Tax due: £40,000 × 24% = £9,600.
The deadline is 60 days from the completion date of 10 September 2026, which falls on 9 November 2026. The landlord must report the gain and pay the £9,600 by that date, not by the following 31 January Self Assessment deadline; the two deadlines are separate, and reporting through the Capital Gains Tax on UK property service does not wait for the tax return.
If part of the gain had instead fallen within the landlord's basic rate band, that portion would be taxed at 18% and the remainder at 24%, with the two amounts added together to reach the total due.
Does Private Residence Relief change anything?
If the property being sold was your only or main home for the whole time you owned it, you will not usually pay Capital Gains Tax on it at all, under Private Residence Relief, and there will be nothing to report through the 60-day service. The conditions are set out on gov.uk's tax when you sell your home page: broadly, you must have lived in it as your only home throughout your ownership, not let part of it out, not used part of it exclusively for business, and the grounds must be under 5,000 square metres.
Where a home was your main residence for only part of the time you owned it, for example because you let it out or lived elsewhere for a period, part of the gain can still be chargeable, and that portion still falls within the 60-day rule if it exceeds your annual exempt amount. This guide does not set out a specific final-period exemption figure, because none could be verified on gov.uk's current page at the time of writing; check the position for your own dates of absence before assuming which months are covered.
What if I miss the deadline?
You may have to pay interest on the tax from the date it was due, and a separate late filing penalty for the report itself. Late payment interest and penalty rates are published on gov.uk and can change; the practical point is that both the report and the payment need to happen inside 60 days of completion, not just one or the other.
What this means in practice
Work out roughly what your gain will be before you complete, not after, so that you are not starting the 60-day clock from a standing start. Gather your original purchase records, evidence of buying and selling costs, and any improvement costs in advance.
Setting up a Capital Gains Tax on UK property account with HMRC, and knowing whether you even need to report (because your gain is below the allowance, for instance), is something you can check yourself. Getting the gain calculation right, applying any reliefs correctly, and deciding how a joint sale should be split between owners are areas where it is worth having an adviser check your figures before you file, particularly given how tight the 60-day window is once completion has happened.
Frequently Asked Questions
Completion. The date you exchange contracts is not the trigger; the clock starts from the day you stop being the legal owner of the property.
UK residents do not need to report through this service if their total gains for the year are below the tax-free allowance, including where there is no gain at all. Non-UK residents must report every sale, even with no tax due.
No. The 60-day deadline is separate and comes first. You still need to include the sale in your Self Assessment return for the year if you are already registered, but the initial report and payment cannot wait until January.
For 2026/27, individuals pay 18% on gains within their basic rate band and 24% above it; trustees and personal representatives pay 24%. These rates apply equally to residential property and other chargeable assets since 30 October 2024.
If it qualifies in full for Private Residence Relief, there is usually no gain to report. If only part of the gain qualifies, for example because you let the property out for part of your ownership, the chargeable portion can still fall within the 60-day rule.
Talk to us before you complete
If you are about to complete on a buy-to-let or second-home sale and want your gain calculated correctly before the clock starts, get in touch. The first conversation is about your purchase and sale figures, what reliefs might apply, and getting the report filed inside the 60 days. Call us on 020 8554 2135 or email info@visionconsulting.co.uk and a senior manager will take your enquiry personally. You can also reach us via our contact page.
By the Vision Consulting team.
This is general information, not advice. Your position depends on your circumstances.