How to Report and Pay CGT on a UK Property Sale Within 60 Days (2026/27)

This guide is general information, not advice.

This guide is for anyone selling a UK residential property that was not their main home for the whole time they owned it: a buy-to-let, a second home, an inherited flat. It walks through the 60-day reporting and payment process as GOV.UK and HMRC’s own manual describe it.

By the end you will know whether you have to file the 60-day return at all, what to gather, what the service asks for, how to pay, and what happens when your Self Assessment return comes round later.

Before you start

The rule, from GOV.UK: “You must report and pay any Capital Gains Tax due on UK residential property within 60 days of completing the sale of the property.” HMRC’s manual at CG-APP18-110 confirms the 60-day limit applies where completion was on or after 27 October 2021 (it was 30 days for completions between 6 April 2020 and 26 October 2021).

Whether you have to file depends on residence:

• UK resident. GOV.UK says you “do not need to report your gains online if your total gains are less than the tax-free allowance”. CG-APP18-110 goes further: there is no need to report any disposal where there is no CGT liability, for example because Private Residence Relief applies in full, the gain is covered by the annual exemption, or losses cover it. You can still report voluntarily.
• Not UK resident. You “must report all sales and disposals of UK property or land by the deadline, even if you have no tax to pay”. The non-resident guidance adds that this applies even if you made a loss or are registered for Self Assessment, and covers non-residential land too.

Work out the gain first. GOV.UK’s Tax when you sell property lets you deduct “estate agents’ and solicitors’ fees” and “costs of improvement works, for example for an extension (normal maintenance costs, such as decorating, do not count)”. If the property was your home for part of the time, read the Private Residence Relief conditions before you decide whether tax is due.

Have ready, per the GOV.UK list:

• the address and postcode of the property
• the date you got the property
• the date you exchanged contracts when selling
• the completion date (the date you stopped being the owner)
• the value when you got it and the value when you sold it
• the costs of buying, selling or making improvements
• details of any tax reliefs, allowances or exemptions you are claiming
• the property type, if you are not UK resident

You also need sign-in details. The service’s start page accepts a Government Gateway user ID or a GOV.UK One Login, and offers “Create new sign in details” if you have neither. If the property was jointly owned, each owner reports their own gain or loss.

Step-by-step

1. Open a Capital Gains Tax on UK property account. Go to the report and pay page and select “Sign in or create an account”. GOV.UK says that if you do not already have sign-in details “you’ll be able to create them when you sign in for the first time”. HMRC’s manual notes each applicant must sign in themselves to complete the registration.
2. If you want an accountant to do it, authorise them from inside the account. Per CG-APP18-120, you give the agent your account number and UK postcode (country of residence if you are non-resident), the agent emails you a link, and you must use that link within 21 days to complete the authorisation. Only one agent can manage the account at a time.
3. Enter the disposal. The return asks for the items in the list above, then your calculation of the gain and the reliefs claimed. HMRC’s manual sets out the sections in order: “Before you start”, “Provide details”, then “Report and pay the tax”, where losses and exemptions are entered.
4. Submit and note the reference. Keep a digital or printed copy. Your 14-character payment reference starting with “X” appears in the account once the return is sent online.
5. Pay. In the account you can pay by debit or corporate credit card, or approve a payment through your online bank account; GOV.UK says you can pick a date “as long as it’s before your payment is due”. Alternatively use the reference for a bank transfer to HMRC Shipley (sort code 08 32 10, account 12001020) or send a cheque to HMRC Direct, BX5 5BD, with the reference on the back. All from the ways to pay page.
6. If you cannot use the online service, complete the online form, print, sign and post it. HMRC then sends your payment reference by letter. You must use this route if you have already submitted a Self Assessment return for the same tax year, if you are a corporate trustee, or to amend a paper form.

Reporting for someone else (under a power of attorney, or as a personal representative) is done from your own account, with proof of authority; a personal representative cannot pay through the account, and HMRC tells you how to pay after you report.

Deadlines and what happens next

• Report and pay by the 60th day after completion. GOV.UK: “You may have to pay interest and a penalty if you do not report and pay on time.”
• Payment timing per GOV.UK: online bank approval “is usually instant but can take up to 2 hours”; Faster Payments “the same or next day”; CHAPS “the same working day” within your bank’s processing times; Bacs “3 working days”. Card payments are accepted on the date you make them.
• Amending. You can view and change your own previous returns in the account, but not a return for the 2023/24 tax year or earlier, and not once you have sent a Self Assessment return for the same tax year.
• Self Assessment later. If you are registered, GOV.UK says you “also need to include details of the sale in your Self Assessment tax return”. CG-APP18-320 explains that the total gains and the tax already charged through the account go on the SA108 pages (boxes 9 and 10 for most UK residents, unless Business Asset Disposal Relief applies). If the final calculation shows you paid too much CGT through the account, for 2021/22 onwards the overpayment is “automatically offset against other SA charges”; any balance is shown on the SA302 but “not automatically repaid”, and HMRC’s manual says to phone 0300 200 3300 to have it allocated or repaid. Once the Self Assessment return is in, do not amend the property return for that year.
• Records. HMRC’s manual says to keep them for at least as long as HMRC can open an enquiry, or to the Self Assessment limits if you file a return.

Common mistakes

• Counting from exchange rather than completion. The clock starts at completion. Exchange still matters, because it sets the tax year the gain belongs to, and the return asks for both dates.
• Paying against your Self Assessment UTR. CG-APP18-170 warns that a payment made to a Self Assessment UTR “is not automatically allocated” to the property account and may be set against other charges or repaid, “which could lead to interest and penalties accruing”. Use the X reference.
• Assuming non-residents get the same pass as residents. A non-resident must report even a loss, and even a non-residential plot.
• Filing Self Assessment first, then trying to amend online. Once the tax return for that year is in, changes to the property return go by post.
• Forgetting the sale on the Self Assessment return. Two separate filings; the second reconciles the first.

Worked example

The figures are GOV.UK’s own Example 1 from the rates page, which gives the 2026/27 annual exempt amount as £3,000 and the basic-rate band as £37,700; the same 18% and 24% rates sit in this site’s CGT calculator.

Completion is on 15 September 2026, so the 60th day after completion is 14 November 2026. Taxable income (after the Personal Allowance) is £20,000 and the gain on the property is £12,600.

Step	Amount
Gain	£12,600
Less annual exempt amount	£3,000
Taxable gain	£9,600
Taxable income plus taxable gain	£29,600
Within the £37,700 basic-rate band?	Yes, so 18% applies
CGT to report and pay by 14 November 2026	£1,728

Where the combined figure crosses £37,700, GOV.UK’s Example 2 taxes the slice inside the band at 18% and the rest at 24%; a higher or additional-rate taxpayer pays 24% on the whole taxable gain.

Related reading

• Capital Gains Tax 2026/27 - rates, reliefs and worked examples across all asset types.
• CGT on a second home calculator - run your own figures before you open the return.
• Tax on selling inherited property 2026/27 - probate value as your acquisition cost, and the 60-day rule for executors.