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Yes. Non-UK residents must pay Non-Resident Capital Gains Tax (NRCGT) when selling UK residential property. Critically, you must report the sale to HMRC within 60 days of completion — even if no tax is due. Missing this deadline results in automatic penalties. However, your base cost is the market value at the date of death (not the original purchase price), which reduces your gain significantly.
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When you inherit property, you do not pay Capital Gains Tax at the point of inheritance. CGT only becomes relevant if and when you sell the property.
Your base cost — the starting point for calculating any gain — is the market value of the property on the date the person died. This is established through the probate valuation. You are only taxed on any increase in value between that date-of-death valuation and the price you eventually achieve on sale.
This is an important and often-misunderstood point. The deceased may have owned the property for decades and seen it rise substantially in value. That entire gain — from the original purchase price to the probate value — is not subject to CGT in your hands. It is effectively wiped out. You start fresh from the probate value.
If the property has not increased in value since the person died — or if it has actually fallen — there may be little or no CGT to pay at all. In markets where property values have stagnated, or where you are selling quickly after death, the gain can be minimal.
You can also deduct certain costs from your gain before calculating tax, including estate agent fees, solicitor or conveyancer fees, and capital improvements you made to the property whilst you owned it. Routine repairs and maintenance do not count.
For more on the UK CGT rules that apply to all UK resident and non-resident sellers of inherited property, see our guide to capital gains tax on inherited property.
UK residential property has been within the scope of non-resident CGT since April 2015. Commercial property and other UK land followed in April 2019. If you are non-UK resident when you sell inherited residential property, NRCGT applies to your gain.
The tax rates are the same as for UK residents: 18% if you are a basic rate taxpayer, and 24% if you are a higher rate taxpayer. Your UK-source income is used to determine which band applies — but if you have little or no UK income in the year of sale, the gain itself will be compared against the UK basic rate threshold (£50,270 in 2025/26).
One important distinction: NRCGT is based on your tax residence status, not your domicile. Whether you are UK-domiciled, non-domiciled, or deemed-domiciled is irrelevant for CGT purposes. What matters is whether you are UK-resident or non-UK-resident in the tax year the sale completes.
Your residence status for UK tax is determined under the Statutory Residence Test (SRT). If you have spent fewer than 183 days in the UK in the relevant tax year, you are generally non-UK resident — though the SRT has various tie-breaker tests, particularly if you have connections to the UK. If your status is uncertain, take specialist advice before completing a sale.
This is HMRC's most common NRCGT compliance issue. The rule is straightforward: within 60 days of completing the sale, you must report the disposal to HMRC and pay any CGT due.
The 60-day clock starts on the completion date — the date on which legal ownership transfers. It does not start on exchange of contracts, the date you receive the proceeds, or any other milestone. Completion is the trigger.
To report, you use HMRC's UK Property Reporting Service, which is an online portal accessed through Government Gateway. You will need a UK Government Gateway account and a Capital Gains Tax on UK Property account within it.
The 60-day reporting requirement applies even if your net gain is nil, or if the gain falls entirely within your annual CGT allowance (£3,000 for 2024/25 onwards). There is no exception for zero-tax disposals. You must still report.
If you are already registered for UK self-assessment, you will also need to report the disposal on your annual self-assessment return for the relevant tax year. The 60-day report and the self-assessment return are separate obligations — satisfying one does not replace the other.
Important: penalty structure for late reports
£100 automatic penalty if you miss the 60-day deadline. This rises to £300 after 6 months, and further daily penalties accrue after 12 months. Interest is charged on any unpaid tax from the 60-day deadline. HMRC can also issue discovery assessments if it later finds an unreported disposal.
The calculation follows a straightforward formula: sale price, minus base cost (probate value), minus allowable costs, minus annual CGT allowance equals your taxable gain.
Worked example
Probate value (base cost): £350,000
Sale price: £400,000
Allowable costs (solicitor fees £3,000 + estate agent fees £9,000): £12,000
Net gain: £400,000 − £350,000 − £12,000 = £38,000
Less annual CGT allowance: £3,000
Taxable gain: £35,000
NRCGT at 24% (higher rate taxpayer): £8,400
The allowable costs you can deduct include estate agent fees, solicitor or conveyancer fees, any capital improvements you funded (such as an extension or new roof) whilst the property was in your possession as executor or beneficiary, and the probate valuation fee itself. Routine maintenance and repairs are not deductible.
If multiple beneficiaries inherited the property jointly, each beneficiary calculates their own proportionate gain and uses their own annual CGT allowance. This can reduce the overall tax considerably.
You can use our IHT calculator to check whether inheritance tax was also payable on the estate — a separate question from CGT.
Before you can use HMRC's UK Property Reporting Service to file your 60-day return, you need a UK Government Gateway account and a CGT on UK Property account. To set up Government Gateway, you will typically need a UK Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) or National Insurance number.
If you have never filed a UK tax return, you may not have a UTR. You can apply for one from abroad by registering for self-assessment on HMRC's website. HMRC will post your UTR to a UK address, or to your overseas address on request, but this can take two to four weeks. You should start this process well before you exchange contracts — ideally as soon as you know you will be selling the property.
Once you have a UTR and Government Gateway credentials, you can set up your CGT on UK Property account online and use it to submit the 60-day return. The process is entirely online — there is no requirement to attend HMRC offices or post forms for this step.
Plan ahead for Government Gateway setup
If you have never filed UK tax before, allow a minimum of four weeks to obtain a UTR and activate your Government Gateway account. Do not leave this until after completion — the 60-day clock will already be running.
The process for selling inherited UK property when you live abroad involves several distinct stages. Working through them in order will avoid the most common delays and compliance problems.
No. Until the grant of probate (or grant of letters of administration) has been issued, the estate legally owns the property. The executors cannot transfer title. The Land Registry will not register a change of ownership without the grant.
What you can do before probate is granted: instruct an estate agent, accept an offer, and instruct a solicitor to begin the conveyancing process. Buyers will expect the sale to proceed once probate arrives, so beginning marketing early is sensible. However, exchange of contracts — the legally binding step — cannot happen until the grant is in your hands.
For a full guide to the probate process, see our complete UK probate guide.
Practical tip: market early, exchange late
Many overseas executors instruct an estate agent and accept an offer whilst probate is still being processed. Buyers understand probate timelines. This avoids months of delay after probate is granted and means you can proceed to exchange quickly once the grant arrives.
In addition to UK NRCGT, many countries tax capital gains on overseas property in the hands of their own residents. Australia, the United States, Canada, Singapore, and most EU member states all have rules that may capture gains made on foreign property. The rules vary considerably by jurisdiction.
Double taxation treaties between the UK and your country of residence may provide relief. The UK has double taxation agreements with approximately 130 countries. Many of these give the country of residence a right to tax capital gains, but also provide a credit for any UK tax already paid — so you should not pay full tax in both countries on the same gain.
The UK also allows you to offset foreign tax paid against NRCGT in certain circumstances under unilateral relief provisions, even where no treaty applies.
You should take advice from a tax adviser qualified in both UK and local tax law before completing the sale. The interaction between UK NRCGT and local CGT rules can be complex, and the timing of the sale within a tax year can affect the outcome in some jurisdictions.
For guidance on the UK inheritance tax position — which is a separate question from CGT — see our guide on UK inheritance tax for 2026/27.
Selling UK property from overseas involves several practical complications beyond the tax obligations.
Residential property sales require signing numerous legal documents. Whilst it is possible to sign remotely in some cases, the most practical solution for overseas sellers is to grant a power of attorney to your UK solicitor, allowing them to sign on your behalf. A general or limited power of attorney drawn up by a UK solicitor will typically suffice for a property transaction. You will need to sign the power of attorney document before a notary in your country and have it apostilled if required.
UK solicitors typically send sale proceeds to a bank account in the UK. If you do not have a UK bank account, you will need to make alternative arrangements. Options include opening a UK bank account (possible from abroad but can take several weeks), having proceeds paid to the estate account if it is still open, or using an international money transfer service in conjunction with your solicitor. Discuss this with your solicitor at the outset — do not leave it until completion day. For guidance on moving funds out of the UK once received, see our guide on transferring inheritance money out of the UK.
If inheritance tax was payable on the estate, it must have been paid (at least in part) before probate was granted. If it has not been fully discharged, HMRC retains a charge over the property that prevents a clean sale. Your solicitor will check for any HMRC charge as part of the conveyancing process and ensure it is cleared at completion. See our guide on UK inheritance tax where the deceased was non-resident for more detail on the IHT position for overseas families.
Managing the estate as a whole
If you also need to close UK bank accounts as part of administering the estate, see our separate guide on closing UK bank accounts after a death when you live abroad.
Yes. The 60-day reporting obligation applies to all UK residential property disposals by non-residents, regardless of whether any tax is due. If your gain is nil or falls within the annual allowance, you still need to submit a return through HMRC's UK Property Reporting Service. Penalties apply for missing the deadline even where the tax liability is zero.
Your base cost is the market value of the property on the date of death — established through the probate valuation. This is not what the deceased originally paid. Any gain the deceased made from their original purchase up to their death is wiped out for CGT purposes when you inherit.
Your residence status is determined under the UK Statutory Residence Test on a full-year basis. Split-year treatment can apply in the year you arrive in or depart from the UK, and this may affect whether standard CGT or NRCGT applies to the sale. If your residence status is uncertain for the year in which you plan to sell, take specialist advice before proceeding.
In practice, yes. Property conveyancing in England and Wales must be carried out by a regulated professional. As an overseas executor, a UK solicitor manages the transaction remotely on your behalf. You can grant them a power of attorney so they can sign documents without you needing to travel.
Yes. As executor you can assent the property to yourself as a beneficiary once probate is granted. There is no CGT event on the assent itself. Your base cost remains the probate value whenever you eventually sell. Be aware that values may continue to rise, increasing your eventual gain.
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Step-by-step guide for non-resident executors: swearing the oath overseas, IHT deadlines, whether you need a UK solicitor, and how to manage probate entirely from abroad.
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