CGT sale of property and Form 17

[siara]

Hi everyone really looking for advise here. Neither my accountant or solicitor can seem to know much about this so I thought I would try this forum. I owned a rental property with my partner (as tenants in common) that we both lived in till 2009 when we began renting it out and sold it in 2018. In all that time he has always been a higher tax payer and me a lower tax payer. Back in 2012 I requested to change the beneficial interest to me however my previous accountant did not recommend apportionment of 99% to me and 1 % to my partner and advised 50/50 which is how rental has always been split .The only reason it had been a 50/50 split up until that point is because I was unaware about being able to split the share of rentals to any proportion till i read about it.
In 2012 I also created a deed of trust (but not as an official document prepared by a solicitor ) which was never applied as the accountant advised against it.
Since then I have changed accountants. Is it possible for me to apportion the last rental accounts to me 99% and 1% to my partner now for my final tax return due Jan 2020 and fill in Form 17 with a new deed of trust ? Can I also have CGT calculation on my property sale apportioned in the same way too? Or is it too late? Desperately seeking advice . Many thanks in advance

[jpkeates]

Are you married to your partner?

[siara]

No am not married

[jpkeates]

In which case, you don't need a deed of trust or form 17, so the whole thing seems odd.

I am confused about why the accountant and solicitor gave such odd advice, as it's a very routine issue.
Which makes me concerned that there's some other complicating factor I'm not aware of that influenced their advice.

Unmarried couples who jointly own property can simply document an agreement between them to allocate the income as they prefer and complete their tax returns on that basis.
The agreement isn't back datable (although as HMRC don't actually have to be notified they won't know when it was signed) and takes immediate effect.

There was a good example of what the agreement should say in this forum quite recently.

[AndrewDod]

In which case, you don't need a deed of trust or form 17, so the whole thing seems odd.

And even if form R17 was applicable (which it is not) - it has nothing at all to do with CGT (it simply informs HMRC of the actual beneficial ownership - it does not create a beneficial split). If you do not fill in R17 then rental income has to be split 50:50 regardless of the actual ownership.

Be aware that if you do create a deed of Trust your unmarried partner will actually OWN 99% (if one of you dies, you get divorced, one of you go bankrupt etc). Was the self-made deed signed as a deed (with witnesses etc).

Only if she is not your spouse can you agree to split the rental income in a different way to the actual ownership (as JP says). If you are married it is either 50:50 or according to the actual ownership (and the latter only if you do R17).

JP if you can locate that good form of words to which you refer it would be appreciated.

[jpkeates]

JP if you can locate that good form of words to which you refer it would be appreciated.

I agree, but I can't find it.
I was hoping whoever posted it might be able to do it again.

I saw it quite recently, but can't see it now (and searching with all of the obvious wording doesn't help.)
Probably turn out to be a different website completely!

[Gordon999]

1. No. If the rental property was sold in 2018, its too late to change the income distribution for last rental accounts. .

( The change to income distribution after submitting form 17 to HMRC , applies only to future income ).

2. If the sold rental property was registered under two names as " 50:50 tenants in common" , you would each declare 50% of the capital gain Each partner can deduct the gain achieved whilst it was previous residence + 18 months) plus deduct lettings relief up to £40K plus deduct the £12K personal allowance for capital gains.

3. What is the ownership of " your property sale " ? If the property has never been let out, there is no CGT