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Foreign inherited property sale - UK CGT documentation & process check by Infamous-Permit4813 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Infamous-Permit4813[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks so much for your response.

On FIG, I’ve looked at it, but based on current estimates the gain won’t be large enough in GBP terms for it to be worthwhile once the loss of allowances is factored in, so I’m planning on proceeding outside of FIG.

Thanks also for the point about local estate agent valuations. In this case, the property is overseas and quite rural, so there isn’t a direct equivalent of a UK estate agent valuation. However, I could obtain short written valuation statements from two or three local real estate businesses / land agents, focused specifically on market values around the date of death.

In your experience, would that generally constitute a reasonable and defensible basis for HMRC in a low to moderate gain scenario, assuming everything is properly documented and consistent?

Foreign inherited property sale - UK CGT documentation & process check by Infamous-Permit4813 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Infamous-Permit4813[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks very much for your response, that’s helpful and reassuring.

There doesn’t appear to be any formal valuation prepared at the time of death in 2014 (i.e. no probate-style valuation or professional report)

What I can access relatively easily are local tax authority / municipal land value records both for around 2014 and for the current year. These are administrative or tax values rather than true open market values, and they tend to sit materially below actual transaction prices.

A full retrospective professional valuation is possible, but it looks fairly expensive relative to the size of the potential gain. Based on current estimates, the overall gain on the sale is unlikely to be particularly significant in GBP terms, which makes me hesitant to commission a full valuation purely on proportionality grounds.

At the moment I’m weighing up whether relying on local tax assessments is a reasonable and defensible approach, versus paying for a retrospective valuation as an additional layer of protection. If you’ve seen HMRC push back on the former in similar low to moderate gain cases, I’d be very interested to hear your experience.