Sell my property in USA and return home to UK will i have to pay Tax ?

If I should decide to return back home to the UK, first I have to sell my property in USA, and on return to the UK will I be taxed in the UK on the finance I bring into the country ?   

If the house is your primary residence, you will not be taxed in the UK on the proceeds of the sale:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/cgt/property/sell-own-home.htm

If the house is other than your primary residence, you might be liable to pay UK Capital Gains Tax if the sale takes place while you are a UK tax resident (for instance if you move over and sell the house afterwards).

Hi Politicfool

many thanks for the information that I do not have to pay tax if it is my own personal residence, even though I am planning way in advance I still live in the UK and plan to sell up and marry my Fiance' in the USA by the end of the year and return home in approx. 12 years time.

In the process of looking into tax on the sale of the property from my home in the UK entering the USA tax is charged if you sold your property and deduct

1: Cost of property in the beginning e.g - 100,000
2: Estate agent fees e.g - 5,000
3: Property sold for e.g - 150,000

Your profit is only 45,000

As a single person if your profit does not exceed $250,000 you will not be taxed.
As a married couple if your profit does not exceed $500,00 you will not be taxed.

So at present I was curious will there be a similar trap for when I return ?
As we see there is none but no one knows what changes may come into force in the future.


Once again many thanks !!

.... I am planning way in advance I still live in the UK and plan to sell up and marry my Fiance' in the USA by the end of the year and return home in approx. 12 years time.

Planning is good, but from personal experience things rarely go to plan.

Your finances and taxes will be simpler if you avoid owing cross border assets. So  selling investments and property before you change tax residency will make things less complicated.

Planning is good, but from personal experience things rarely go to plan.

Your finances and taxes will be simpler if you avoid owing cross border assets. So  selling investments and property before you change tax residency will make things less complicated.

I agree Planning is good and due to my planning this is why I have looked into this, as from the UK to USA I was told different stories so I had to look into things as it was more complicated as I did not know who was right.

Still if I had property valued 200,000 and if I knew I would be taxed 100,000 I would never sell and move in the first place.... so you have to plan regardless even though regulations may change in the future, at least I can say I could not do any more than I did which is better than saying.... if I only looked into tax on my property in the beginning I would never lost this amount !

We have a home in the US that we are renting out. This home was our primary residence.

If we stay longer in the UK, we may not want the hassle of renting because I have never liked the idea of being an absentee landlord.

If we sold our home now, would it be considered a rental property? Technically, we are renting it.

Is the advice to keep the profit from the sale of the house in the US in some kind of investment account?

What if we return to the US after 5 or 10 years? What kind of investment account would allow us to use the proceeds from the house for another down payment?

Also, I understood, although I don't fully understand these tax laws either, that if one sold a primary residence, but did NOT immediately use the proceeds for another primary residence, that money would be taxed: is that true?

Sorry, this is our very first house and we have never bought/sold before.

As you have been renting out your property it is not considered your primary residence. We sold our former primary residence after renting it out for 4.5 years, and will be paying tax on any gain when we file. Of course we have been following IRS guidance on depreciation etc. for the last 4 years of tax returns so there were some breaks there.