Capital Gains Tax calculator 2026/27 (other assets)

Capital Gains Tax (CGT) is the tax you pay on the profit when you sell or otherwise dispose of an asset that has gone up in value. For 2026/27 the annual exempt amount is £3,000 , the gain you can make tax-free each year , and the rates from 6 April 2026 are 18% for gains in the basic-rate income tax band and 24% for gains above. CGT applies to most assets except your main home, which is covered by Private Residence Relief, and assets held inside ISAs and pensions, which are tax-free. This calculator works out CGT on shares, second properties, business assets, crypto and other disposals, and shows how the gain stacks against your income for band purposes.

How CGT rates work in 2026/27

Your gain (sale price minus purchase price minus allowable costs minus the £3,000 annual exempt amount) is added to your taxable income to work out which band(s) it falls into. The rates are:

The rates were changed from 6 April 2026; previously residential property had higher rates than other assets, but the rates are now aligned. Carried interest still has its own rates and Business Asset Disposal Relief (formerly Entrepreneurs’ Relief) provides a 14% rate (rising to 18% from April 2026) on qualifying business disposals up to a £1 million lifetime limit.

A higher-rate taxpayer with £20,000 of gains in 2026/27 pays: £3,000 covered by the annual exempt amount, £17,000 taxed at 24% = £4,080.

A basic-rate taxpayer with £30,000 of taxable income and a £20,000 gain has £20,270 of basic-rate band remaining (£50,270 − £30,000). The first £3,000 of gain is exempt, the next £17,000 splits across the bands: £17,000 fits inside the £20,270 of remaining basic-rate band, so taxed at 18% = £3,060.

What CGT applies to

CGT applies on disposal of:

• Shares not held in an ISA or pension
• Second properties (buy-to-let, holiday homes, inherited properties)
• Cryptocurrency and similar digital assets
• Business assets (including goodwill, plant, machinery)
• Personal possessions worth £6,000 or more (the chattels exemption)
• Foreign investments held by UK residents

CGT does not apply to:

• Your main residence (covered by Private Residence Relief)
• Assets held inside ISAs and pensions
• Personal cars
• Personal possessions under £6,000
• Most lottery and betting winnings
• ISA dividends and growth
• Premium Bond winnings
• Certain government securities (gilts) and qualifying corporate bonds

The £3,000 annual exempt amount

The annual exempt amount is the gain you can make tax-free each year. For 2026/27 it is £3,000 for individuals and £1,500 for most trustees. It was £12,300 in 2022/23 and has been steadily reduced. There is no carry-forward , use it in the tax year or lose it.

This drives an obvious planning move: realising gains in tranches across multiple tax years to use multiple annual exempt amounts. A £15,000 gain crystallised entirely in one year exposes £12,000 to CGT. The same gain spread across five years (selling £3,000 of gain per year) uses five annual exempt amounts and pays no CGT at all.

For couples, transferring assets to a spouse before disposal is a common move because spouse transfers happen at no gain / no loss for CGT. A higher-earning spouse with no remaining basic-rate band can transfer half a holding to a lower-earning spouse with available basic-rate band; both then realise gains using their own annual exempt amounts and own basic-rate bands, often halving the total CGT.

Bed and ISA, bed and SIPP, bed and spouse

“Bed and ISA” is the practice of selling shares in a general investment account and immediately buying the same shares back inside an ISA. The sale crystallises a gain (using the annual exempt amount) and the rebuy puts the shares inside the ISA where future growth and dividends are tax-free. The 30-day “bed and breakfast” anti-avoidance rule doesn’t catch bed-and-ISA because the rebuy is in a different ownership structure (you, vs you-as-ISA-investor).

“Bed and SIPP” works similarly but moves the shares into a pension. The buyback inside the SIPP attracts pension tax relief, which is a substantial bonus on top of the future tax-free growth.

“Bed and spouse” is the spouse-transfer mechanic above: sell, then buy back through your spouse, who holds them under their own annual exempt amount. The 30-day rule is also avoided because of the change of ownership.

Crypto and CGT

HMRC treats cryptocurrency as a chargeable asset for CGT purposes. Every disposal , selling for fiat, swapping one coin for another, using crypto to buy goods, gifting crypto to anyone other than a spouse , is a CGT event. The annual exempt amount applies the same way.

Pooling rules complicate the matter: HMRC treats holdings of the same cryptocurrency as a “section 104 pool”, with the cost basis being the average of all purchases. Disposals come out of the pool at this average cost, not the original purchase price. The 30-day same-day and bed-and-breakfast matching rules also apply to crypto.

For active crypto traders, this calculation can be onerous; specialised tax software (Koinly, Recap, TokenTax) automates it from exchange exports.

Reporting and paying CGT

Most CGT is reported and paid through Self Assessment on the SA108 supplementary pages, with the bill included in the Self Assessment payment due 31 January following the tax year.

There’s one major exception: residential property. Disposals of UK residential property where CGT is due must be reported and paid through HMRC’s separate “Capital Gains Tax on UK property” service within 60 days of completion. This is in addition to declaring the disposal on the annual Self Assessment return. See CGT on Residential Property for the separate workflow.

Key takeaways

• CGT rates for 2026/27: 18% in the basic-rate band, 24% above. Residential and non-residential property rates are now aligned.
• The annual exempt amount is £3,000 , realise gains across multiple tax years and use multiple AEAs where possible.
• ISAs and pensions are CGT-free; “bed and ISA” moves taxable holdings into shelter.
• Spouse transfers happen at no gain / no loss and let couples use both annual exempt amounts.
• Residential property has its own 60-day reporting and payment regime, separate from Self Assessment.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to pay CGT if I gift an asset? Yes, in most cases. A gift to anyone other than a spouse, civil partner or charity is treated as a disposal at market value for CGT purposes , even though no money changes hands. The donor pays the CGT on the gain. Gifts between spouses are at no gain / no loss; gifts to charity are at no gain / no loss.

What if I make a loss? Capital losses can be set against capital gains in the same tax year, reducing the gain that’s taxable. Unused losses carry forward indefinitely against future gains. Losses must be claimed within four years of the end of the tax year in which the loss arose.

Does the £3,000 annual exempt amount apply per asset? No. It’s an annual amount across all your CGT disposals in the tax year combined. If you sell shares and a second property in the same year, you get one £3,000 exemption against the total gain.

Are gains on cryptocurrency taxed differently? Crypto is treated like any other chargeable asset for CGT. The same 18% / 24% rates apply, the same £3,000 annual exempt amount, and the same disposal triggers (sell for fiat, swap to another coin, use to buy goods). The pooling and 30-day matching rules apply to crypto in the same way as to shares.