CGT Allowance 2026/27: How the £3,000 Annual Exempt Amount Works

The capital gains tax allowance for 2026/27 is £3,000 per person. That is the amount of net taxable gain you can make in a tax year before any capital gains tax (CGT) is due. The allowance — formally called the annual exempt amount — has been cut sharply in recent years, so understanding how it works and how to use it has never mattered more.

This guide explains the 2026/27 CGT allowance in plain English, walks through worked examples and planning tactics, and points you to our free capital gains tax calculator for a quick estimate.

What is the CGT allowance?

When you sell an asset that has gone up in value — a buy-to-let property, shares outside an ISA, a business, crypto, even valuable chattels — you usually owe capital gains tax on the gain. The CGT allowance is a slice of that gain HMRC ignores each tax year.

For 2026/27:

Who	Annual exempt amount
Individuals	£3,000
Most trustees	£1,500
Personal representatives (estates)	£3,000 in year of death + next 2 tax years

Each individual gets their own allowance. You cannot carry it forward to a future tax year if unused, and you cannot transfer it to your spouse. So if you do not realise any gains by 5 April, the allowance is gone forever.

How the allowance has changed

The allowance has fallen dramatically since 2022:

Tax year	Individual allowance
2022/23	£12,300
2023/24	£6,000
2024/25	£3,000
2025/26	£3,000
2026/27	£3,000

In two years, the allowance has dropped 75%. If you made the same gain today as in 2022/23, far more of it would be taxable.

How the allowance fits into a CGT calculation

The allowance is applied near the end of the calculation, after deducting allowable costs, reliefs and brought-forward losses. The order is:

1. Calculate the gain on each disposal (proceeds minus cost minus allowable costs).
2. Add up all gains and offset any losses (current year losses first, then brought forward).
3. Apply reliefs (Private Residence Relief, Business Asset Disposal Relief and so on).
4. Subtract the £3,000 annual exempt amount.
5. Apply the appropriate CGT rate (10%/20% for most assets, 18%/24% for residential property) based on your income tax band.

Worked example: how much CGT does the allowance save?

Imagine you sell a portfolio of shares for £25,000, having paid £15,000 for them over the years. The gain is £10,000. You are a higher-rate taxpayer, so the CGT rate is 20%.

Gain                       £10,000
Less: annual allowance      £3,000
                          --------
Taxable gain                £7,000
CGT due (£7,000 × 20%)      £1,400

If the allowance had been £12,300 (as it was in 2022/23), you would have paid no CGT at all on this disposal.

Planning ideas — how to actually use your allowance

1. Transfer assets to your spouse before sale

Inter-spousal transfers are no-gain/no-loss in the UK — you do not trigger CGT when moving an asset to your spouse or civil partner. If your spouse has not used their allowance this tax year, transferring half (or all) of the asset before disposal effectively doubles the available allowance from £3,000 to £6,000, and can also use their unused basic-rate band for a lower CGT rate.

This is a powerful, simple tactic and one of the most common ways our clients reduce CGT bills. It must be a real beneficial transfer, not just a paper exercise.

2. Spread disposals across tax years

If you have flexibility on timing, splitting a disposal across two tax years uses two £3,000 allowances instead of one. For shares this is easy — sell some on 4 April and the rest on 6 April and you have used two years’ allowances. For a single indivisible asset like a property this is harder, but for a share portfolio it can save real money.

3. Crystallise gains up to the allowance each year

If you have unrealised gains within an investment portfolio, consider selling enough each year to use the allowance. You can immediately repurchase the same investments inside an ISA or pension to shelter future growth from CGT entirely (note: the 30-day “bed and breakfast” rule means you cannot simply repurchase the same shares outside a wrapper).

4. Use losses strategically

Losses must be set against gains in the same tax year before the allowance — they cannot be “saved” to keep the allowance free. But brought-forward losses can be used selectively: you only have to use enough to bring the taxable gain down to the allowance, leaving the rest of the loss for future years.

5. Don’t forget chattels and small disposals

Single items of tangible movable property (paintings, antiques, jewellery) sold for £6,000 or less are exempt from CGT entirely — they do not even use up your allowance. Between £6,000 and £15,000 a tapered calculation applies.

Common mistakes

• Missing the 60-day deadline on residential property. If you sell a buy-to-let or second home with a gain that uses up all your allowance, you have only 60 days from completion to report and pay the CGT. Even if the gain is fully covered by reliefs, reporting may still be required.
• Forgetting to claim losses in time. Losses must be claimed in writing (or via Self Assessment) within four years of the end of the tax year in which the loss arose. After that, they are lost.
• Assuming ISA/pension assets count. Gains on assets held inside an ISA or pension are completely exempt from CGT. They do not use your allowance and you do not report them. Only assets held outside these wrappers are within scope.
• Mixing up the allowance with the tax-free dividend allowance. These are separate. The CGT allowance is for capital gains; the dividend allowance is for dividend income.

What if my gain is exactly the allowance?

If your total taxable gains in the year are £3,000 or less, no CGT is due. However, you may still need to report if:

• You sold a UK residential property that is not your main home (60-day reporting applies even where tax is fully covered by reliefs and allowance, in some cases).
• Your total disposal proceeds in the year exceeded £50,000 — there is a separate reporting trigger for high proceeds even where no tax is due.

If in doubt, file the disposals on your Self Assessment — better safe than penalised.

FAQ

Can I split the CGT allowance with my spouse? No. Each person has their own £3,000 allowance and you cannot give yours to your spouse. However, you can transfer the asset itself to your spouse before sale (no-gain/no-loss), which effectively brings their allowance into play.

Does the CGT allowance apply to property? Yes. The £3,000 annual exempt amount applies to gains on residential property and other chargeable assets alike. But the tax rates on residential property are higher (18% or 24% vs 10% or 20%).

What happens if I do not use my allowance? It is lost. You cannot carry forward unused allowance to a future tax year.

Is the CGT allowance the same as the personal allowance? No. The personal allowance (£12,570 for most people in 2026/27) applies to income tax. The CGT annual exempt amount (£3,000) applies to capital gains. They are completely separate.

Can I use both allowances in the same tax year? Yes. You can use your £12,570 income tax personal allowance against your income, and separately use your £3,000 CGT allowance against your gains.

Get help with your capital gains

If you are about to make a significant disposal, an hour with a CGT adviser can save thousands. We help individuals, landlords, business owners and trustees plan disposals, use allowances and reliefs effectively, and meet HMRC’s 60-day reporting deadline.

Book a free CGT consultation, try our CGT calculator, or read more about our capital gains tax and self assessment services.

For the official rules, see GOV.UK: capital gains tax rates and allowances.