These are the main assets and transactions that are free of CGT

These are the main assets and transactions that are free of CGT, subject to certain conditions.

* Gifts between husband and wife
* Gains on your only or main home (unless you let it, are away for substantial periods, use part exclusively for business, or bought it exclusively for profit)
* Private motor cars
* Prizes and betting winnings (including Premium Bonds and National Lottery prizes)
* British Government stocks, qualifying company loan stock and building society Permanent Interest Bearing shares
* Sterling cash or foreign currency for your own use abroad
* Most cashbacks (for example, paid as an inducement to take out a mortgage)
* Gifts to charities, 'national heritage bodies', local authorities, government and universities
* Proceeds from life insurance policies (unless bought second-hand)
* Compensation for personal or professional wrong or injury
* Compensation for mis-sold personal pensions
* National Savings schemes
* Personal Equity Plans
*Tax Exempt Special Savings Schemes (TESSAs)
* SAYE terminal bonuses
* Shares in the Business Expansion Scheme, Enterprise Investment Scheme or qualifying Venture Capital Trusts
* Gifts of land to a registered housing association
* Personal possessions with a predicted useful life of 50 years or less (known as 'wasting assets') provided you have not used them in your business so that they qualified for capital allowances
* Personal possessions with a predicted useful life of more than 50 years are tax-free if the disposal proceeds are £6,000 or less. (This £6,000 figure is separate from your tax-free slice allowed for gains during the 1998-99 tax year.) If the disposal proceeds are more than £6,000, your taxable gain is either your actual gain or 5/3 of the excess over £6,000, whichever is lower.

If the disposal proceeds are less than £6,000 and you have made a loss, you are assumed to have received £6,000. So if you buy a picture for £7,000 and sell it for £5,000 you are deemed to have made a loss of £1,000. See Inland Revenue Help Sheet IR293 Chattels and capital gains tax.

If you sell a set of articles, for example a set of matching chairs, separately, but to the same person, the Revenue is likely to treat the sales as a single sale. So if you sold six chairs for £2,000 each, you would be taxed as if you had made a single sale of £12,000 - not six sales of £2,000 each.

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