Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. HMRC treats crypto as a capital asset, not a currency.

This means the following can all trigger Capital Gains Tax:

• Selling crypto for cash
• Swapping one cryptocurrency for another
• Using crypto to buy goods or services
• Gifting crypto (except to a spouse)

If your total gains in the year exceed the £3,000 annual exempt amount, you'll owe CGT at 18% or 24% depending on your income.

Some crypto activity — like staking rewards, mining income, and certain DeFi transactions — may be treated as income rather than capital gains and taxed differently.

HMRC requires you to keep records of every transaction. This falls under our £199 Advanced Tax Return.

If your side hustle income is over £1,000 in a tax year, yes — you'll need to declare it on a Self Assessment return.

The £1,000 Trading Allowance means you don't pay tax on the first £1,000 of self-employment or casual income, but once you exceed that you need to register and file.

It doesn't matter whether you're being paid in cash, through PayPal, via platforms like Etsy, Vinted, or Deliveroo, or in any other way — if it's income for a service or goods you're selling, it counts.

HMRC has been increasingly active in tracking income through digital platforms, so it's worth getting it right.

Yes, dividends are taxable above the annual Dividend Allowance, which is £500 for 2025/26.

Dividends within an ISA are always tax-free.

If your dividends exceed the allowance, the rate you pay depends on your income band:

• 8.75% for basic-rate taxpayers
• 33.75% for higher-rate taxpayers
• 39.35% for additional-rate taxpayers

Dividend income needs to be declared on your Self Assessment return. Your investment platform or company should provide a dividend certificate or statement showing what you received.

It depends on how much interest you received and what type of taxpayer you are.

For 2025/26, the Personal Savings Allowance is:

• £1,000 for basic-rate taxpayers
• £500 for higher-rate taxpayers
• Nothing for additional-rate taxpayers (income over £125,140)

Interest from ISAs is always tax-free and never needs to be declared.

If your savings interest exceeds your allowance, you'll need to declare the excess on your Self Assessment return. Banks report interest to HMRC automatically, so it's worth declaring it correctly even if you think the amount is small.

If you sell a UK residential property that isn't fully covered by Private Residence Relief and there's CGT to pay, you must report the sale and pay the tax within 60 days of the completion date.

This applies to: second homes, buy-to-lets, inherited properties you didn't live in, and any property where PRR only partially applies.

The 60-day clock starts from the completion date — not the date you exchanged contracts. It's 60 calendar days, so weekends and bank holidays count.

Even if your gain is small or you think you might not owe much, you still need to report within 60 days if there's any taxable gain at all. This is completely separate from your annual Self Assessment return.

Missing the deadline results in an automatic late filing penalty from HMRC.

If you've recently completed a property sale, message us on live chat as soon as possible so we can get started within the window.

Only one property can be your main home at any one time for CGT purposes.

Your main home is covered by Private Residence Relief and is generally exempt from CGT when you sell it. The other property — whether it's a second home, a buy-to-let, or a property you've inherited — won't benefit from PRR and any gain on sale will be subject to CGT.

If you own two properties and haven't formally nominated one as your main residence, HMRC looks at the facts: where you spend most of your time, where you're registered to vote, where your post goes, and so on.

You can formally nominate your main residence by writing to HMRC within 2 years of first owning two homes at the same time.

If you've recently acquired a second property or are planning to sell one, message us on live chat or book a call with us — it's worth getting advice on your specific situation.

Yes. Before we calculate your CGT liability, we check every available relief to make sure your bill is as low as it legally can be.

The main ones we look at are:

Private Residence Relief (PRR): if the property was your main home for any part of your ownership, this can significantly reduce or eliminate the taxable gain.

Lettings Relief: in limited circumstances, if you lived in the property at the same time as letting part of it, you may be entitled to additional relief.

The Annual Exempt Amount: the first £3,000 of gains each year is tax-free, and for joint owners each person gets their own allowance.

Allowable costs: purchase costs, legal and estate agent fees, stamp duty, and the cost of any improvements to the property can all be deducted from the gain.

We do all of this as part of the service — you don't need to work any of it out yourself.

Private Residence Relief (PRR) is the tax relief that exempts the gain on your main home from Capital Gains Tax.

If you lived in the property as your only or main residence for the entire time you owned it, the full gain is exempt and you don't need to report the sale.

PRR also covers the final 9 months of ownership automatically, even if you've already moved out by then. So if you moved out and rented the property before selling, the last 9 months still count as a period of residence for relief purposes.

PRR is reduced proportionally for any periods where the property wasn't your main home — for example, if you owned it for 10 years but only lived in it for 7, roughly 70% of the gain (plus the final 9 months) would be exempt.

If you're not sure whether PRR applies to your sale in full or in part, message us on live chat — it's one of the most common areas where people either over or underpay.