In 2001 I sold my city centre property and relocated my business to a converted farmhouse with workshops. At the time my accountant said I didn’t have to pay capital gains tax on the sale of the city property, as the gain was rolled over into the workshops. If I now let my surplus workshops will I have to pay tax on the capital gain I made in 2001?
The gain you rolled into the cost of the workshops will not become payable until your sell those buildings. As long as you used the workshops for your own business at the time you bought them, the claim to roll-over the gain was valid and is not disturbed by changing the use of the buildings at a later date. However, as you no longer use the workshops for your own business you won’t be able to roll-over the 2001 capital gain once more when you sell those buildings and buy another business asset.
