Lee Sharpe considers a recent capital gains tax case that seems to have upset HMRC.
The relatively few sections of legislation starting at TCGA 1992 s 222, governing ‘only or main residence relief’ (commonly known as principal private residence (PPR) relief) have been the subject of numerous fierce debates over the years.
A series of cases culminating in a Court of Appeal hearing in 2019 has caused HMRC some serious introspection, followed by some sulky ‘reforms’ of the tax code (through FA 2020, s 24) that, despite ostensibly being aimed at making the regime fairer, somehow conspired to net around £150m per annum in additional tax revenue by 2023/24.
Unfortunately for HMRC, the adverse rulings just keep coming.
The legislation on ‘period of ownership’
The code basically starts by
