Capital Gains Tax

Do I pay UK tax on foreign capital gains if I live in the UK?

Answered by Jordan Onraet-Wells, Founder & Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA). Published 28 September 2026. Last reviewed 28 September 2026.

The short answer

Yes. If you are UK tax resident, UK Capital Gains Tax applies to gains on assets anywhere in the world, so selling an overseas property, foreign shares or a business abroad is a UK tax event even if the country where the asset sits taxes it too. For 2026/27 the first £3,000 of gains is exempt and the rest is taxed at 18% within your unused basic rate band and 24% above it. The gain is computed in sterling at the exchange rates on the purchase and sale dates, and tax paid abroad is usually credited against the UK bill through your Self Assessment return.

UK CGT follows the person, not the asset: UK residents are taxed on worldwide gains, while non-residents are generally only taxed on UK land and property.
For 2026/27 the annual exempt amount is £3,000; gains above it are taxed at 18% within your unused basic rate band and 24% above it, and higher and additional rate taxpayers pay 24% on the lot.
The computation is in sterling: cost at the exchange rate on the purchase date, proceeds at the rate on the sale date, so currency movement alone can create a taxable gain.
There is no 60-day return for a foreign asset: the gain goes on the SA108 pages of your Self Assessment return, with the SA106 foreign pages carrying the claim for Foreign Tax Credit Relief.
Foreign tax is credited gain by gain and capped at the UK tax on the same gain, so surplus foreign tax on one disposal cannot shelter another.
New arrivals in their first four UK tax years may be able to claim the FIG regime on foreign gains; leavers who sell abroad and return within five years can be brought back into charge.

Residence decides it, not where the asset sits

UK Capital Gains Tax is charged by reference to you, not the asset. GOV.UK puts it plainly for property: you pay CGT when you dispose of overseas property if you are resident in the UK, and the same principle applies to foreign shares, funds and business interests. Disposal is wider than sale, so gifting a foreign asset to anyone other than your spouse or civil partner, or moving it into a company or trust, is also a disposal at market value. If you are not UK resident the foreign gain is outside UK CGT altogether, because the UK only pursues non-residents on UK land, but residence is decided year by year under the Statutory Residence Test, and in a split year the timing of completion against your arrival or departure date can decide whether the gain is taxed at all. Our selling property abroad guide works through the property case in full.

Sterling, the 2026/27 rates and the foreign tax credit

HMRC requires the computation in sterling, with your acquisition cost translated at the exchange rate on the day you bought and your proceeds at the rate on the day you sold. Where sterling weakened between the two dates, the UK gain is larger than the local one, and a gain can arise where the asset never rose in local terms. For 2026/27 the annual exempt amount is £3,000; above it, gains are taxed at 18% to the extent they fit within your unused basic rate band and 24% beyond that, and the gain stacks on top of your income, so most of a large gain usually lands in the 24% band. Where the other country taxes the same gain, Foreign Tax Credit Relief sets the foreign tax against the UK CGT on that gain, capped at the lower of the two, and relief is calculated gain by gain, so any excess foreign tax is simply lost.

Reporting, and the two windows that change the answer

The 60-day capital gains return applies to UK property only. A foreign gain is reported through Self Assessment: the SA108 capital gains pages carry the computation and the SA106 foreign pages carry the credit claim, and a disposal in 2026/27 goes on the return due, with the tax, by 31 January 2028. Two windows can change the outcome. If you moved to the UK within the last four tax years after at least ten consecutive years abroad, the FIG regime can relieve the foreign gain entirely, at the cost of your personal allowance and annual exempt amount for that year, and the claim must be made on the return each year. In the other direction, sell abroad while temporarily non-resident and return to the UK within five years of leaving, and the gain can be taxed in your year of return.

Go deeper

Sources and further reading

This is general information for the 2026/27 UK tax year, not personal tax advice; speak to a Chartered Tax Adviser about your own position.

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