Thanks.

There are some anomalies in the rules as you will see from my answer. A married couple can only have one main residence between them. Assuming you were living in your house when the first election was made, then that will be your main residence for CGT purposes until you changed the election.

1 Your wife's date of acquisition for CGT purposes is the same as yours, June 2002. She also takes a proportion of your cost as her cost for CGT purposes.

2 If your wife actually lived in your house for a period, however briefly, during her period of actual (not deemed) ownership (ie from when you put her name on the deeds not your original date of purchase) then she will qualify for exemption from CGT on that part of the gain for the period it was her main residence and on that part of the gain for the last three years of ownership.

Whilst the text you quoted was on the Revenue website in CG64512, I find it hard to believe that making an election for a property to be treated as a main residence for CGT purposes for one week would work especially after the property has been sold. In any event, for any election to be work, you have to have lived in the property in question at some period during your ownership. From what you have told me, I'm not sure that is the case with your wife.

Let me know if you have any further queries.TonyTax41088.5071938657

As a result of your rating I won't get paid unless you give my answer a better rating. Can you tell me what you are unhappy with please. My answer was based on 30 plus years working in tax (as opposed to reading books and articles) and it explained exactly where you stand in the eyes of the law so when a lay person says in response to one of my answers "I expected more" I find it surprising. I won't embellish my answers with pointless filler and a constant phrase in my positive feedback is "clear concise answer". I informed you as to where you stand. I cannot make 2 + 2 = 5 unfortunately.

Personally, I don't think making a PPR election for one week will stand close scrutiny but there is nothing to stop you making it and submitting your capital gains calculations on that basis. They may never be questioned but that has more to do with the short staffing in the Revenue than with anything else.

I suspect the fact that CG64512 has been removed from the Revenue website is telling in itself.TonyTax41088.5447648495

CG64510 as mentioned in your last post is not CG64512 which is the reference you have mentioned in some of your other posts up to now.

The PPR election will work so long as both of the individuals have used a property as their only or main residence at some time during their period of ownership. CG64985 refers. CG64525 continues the theme of using both properties as residences. That excludes letting.

You made the joint PPR election for your property to be treated as your main residence shortly after you married. Before you put your wife's name on the deeds you varied the election to make your wife's house your PPR. So, during the period that your wife was a part-owner, it was never officially her PPR.

If you made a further variation to the PPR election and backdated it two years to a date which was within the period that your wife's name was on the deeds of your property then that should work to give her exemption for the last three years of her ownership. This will only work so long as your wife lived in the property at some time during her period of part-ownership. There is no definition of "a short period" in the legislation but all the newsletters I have had in the last two years recommend the election variation should last for at least a month.
TonyTax41091.4953978819