Capital Gains Tax Rates 2026/27
18% inside your basic-rate band, 24% above it, on residential property gains — gov.uk's current rates, how the split with your income actually works, and what changed.
The short answer
Residential property gains are taxed at 18% where they fit your unused basic-rate Income Tax band, and 24% above it. gov.uk states this directly for 2026/27: “If this amount is within the basic Income Tax band, you'll pay 18% on your gains made from 6 April 2026. For any amount above the basic Income Tax band, you'll pay 24%.”
The two rates, on gov.uk's own wording
gov.uk's Capital Gains Tax rates page sets out both sides of the split: basic-rate taxpayers pay 18% on gains that fit inside their remaining basic-rate Income Tax band, and 24% on anything above it. Higher and additional-rate taxpayers have no basic-rate headroom left, so gov.uk confirms they “pay 24% on your gains” in full.
How the split with your income actually works
The rate isn't decided by the size of the gain alone — it's decided by adding the gain (after the £3,000 allowance) on top of your other taxable income for the year, then seeing how much of it falls inside or outside your basic-rate band. In practice:
| Your position | Rate on the taxable gain |
|---|---|
| Your income + taxable gain stays under the basic-rate threshold | Whole taxable gain at 18% |
| Your income already uses up the basic-rate band | Whole taxable gain at 24% |
| Your income partly uses the basic-rate band | Gain split — part at 18%, the rest at 24% |
This is why two sellers with an identical gain can owe very different amounts of tax — a seller with a low salary who has most of their basic-rate band unused gets a meaningfully lower bill than a higher-rate taxpayer selling the same property for the same profit.
Not to be confused with income tax rates on rent
Because both use the words “basic rate” and “higher rate,” it's easy to assume Capital Gains Tax and Income Tax on rental profit share a rate table. They don't. Rental income is taxed at your marginal Income Tax rate (20/40/45% for 2026/27, moving to dedicated 22/42/47% property rates from April 2027 — see our tax changes guide), while a property sale gain uses the entirely separate 18%/24% CGT scale above. The only thing the two taxes share is that your Income Tax band for the year decides which CGT rate you fall into — the rates themselves are not interchangeable.
Rates unchanged by the November 2025 Budget
Property Capital Gains Tax was untouched in the last Budget — the 18%/24% split and the £3,000 allowance both carried over into 2026/27 without change. The Budget's property-related tax measures were on rental income, not capital gains: new 22/42/47% property income rates from April 2027, which is a separate tax entirely — see our Landlord Tax Changes 2026/27 guide if the two are getting confused in what you've read elsewhere.
Worked split
A landlord with £38,000 of other taxable income (just inside the basic-rate band, which runs to £50,270 of total income including the personal allowance) sells a buy-to-let for a £50,000 taxable gain (after the £3,000 allowance):
| Step | Figure |
|---|---|
| Remaining basic-rate headroom | £12,270 |
| Gain taxed at 18% | £12,270 × 18% ≈ £2,209 |
| Remaining gain taxed at 24% | £37,730 × 24% ≈ £9,055 |
| Total Capital Gains Tax | ≈ £11,264 |
The Capital Gains Tax calculator does this split automatically on your own income and gain figures.
Timing a sale around the rate split
Because the rate depends on total income in the year of sale, not the gain alone, the one legitimate lever most landlords actually have is choosing which tax year to complete in. Selling in a year with lower other income — between jobs, after retiring, or simply a quieter year for rental profit — leaves more basic-rate headroom for the gain, pulling more of it down to 18% instead of 24%. This isn't a loophole; it's the same basic-rate mechanic gov.uk describes, just planned around deliberately rather than left to chance. It only works within the tax year the sale actually completes in, so it needs deciding before exchange, not after.
This is a guide, not financial, tax or legal advice. Figures are estimates from the published rates and thresholds, which change with each Budget. Your own position depends on facts a guide can't see — check anything that matters against gov.uk guidance or a qualified adviser before you act on it.
gov.uk: Capital Gains Tax rates · gov.uk: Capital Gains Tax allowances · gov.uk: Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances (basic-rate band used in the worked split), all read verbatim 11 Sep 2026. Matches site/taxdata.py's CGT dataset (rate_basic 0.18, rate_higher 0.24) — no conflicts found.
Quick answers
18% on residential property gains that fit your unused basic-rate Income Tax band, 24% above it. Higher and additional-rate taxpayers pay 24% on the whole gain.
No — the 18%/24% rates and the £3,000 allowance were left unchanged. The Budget's landlord tax changes were to rental income tax (new property rates from April 2027), a separate tax from CGT.
It depends on your total taxable income (including the gain) for the year, not the gain alone. If your income plus gain stays within your basic-rate Income Tax band, you pay 18%; the portion above that band is taxed at 24%.
Residential property and other assets both use the same 18%/24% basic/higher split under the current rates — gov.uk's rates page applies the same two figures across residential property and most other chargeable gains.
Sources
The primary documents this page is built from. Links checked 5 September 2026.
- Capital Gains Tax: rates — GOV.UK
- Capital Gains Tax: allowances — GOV.UK