CAPITAL GAINS TAX

[bob561941]

my wife has inherited a four bedroom bungalow in devon we live in surrey and could move to the bungalow as we are both of retirement age.
the bungalow is valued at £325,000.00 how much capital gains tax would my wife have to pay if it was sold at this figure ?. if we moved into the bungalow and nominated it as our main residence how long would we have to live there to avoid c.g.t.?

[dzug2]

If that's the value of the house now and she has just inherited it then there is no capital gains tax as there has been no gain in value.

There may have been inheritance tax but that should already have been taken care of.

[sallybb]

Providing you sell yours and move into the inherited bungalow after you sell and it becomes your main residence . Idont think it is liable to Capital gains. If you sell the inherited property then it is liable to capital gains. That is my understanding of it.

[buildersmate]

The second answer above is misleading - as Dzug points out there is never any CGT to pay on the £325k value of the legacy your wife has inherited. The estate of the deceased MAY have had to pay Inheritance Tax on the total value of the estate including the bungalow - but any CGT liability for you simply doesn't come into it.
If you choose not to move into it (and hence make it your principal private residence, PPR), there may be a future CGT liability but ONLY WHEN YOU SELL, and the liability is based only on any capital gain you might make - i.e. the future selling price less the £325k value now. Of course you can offset any CGT liability with the annual CGT allowance of about £10k each person (so consider putting the bungalow in joint names to benefit from double allowance).
Bear in mind that property prices aren't increasing in most of the UK at this time (and so CGT on domestic property becomes irrelevant).
If you move into the bungalow and made it your PPR, future CGT would be avoided on it.
There would then be no CGT to pay on your existing house (because it was your PPR), and provided you sold it within 3 years of moving out, there would be no future CGT liability on the house after it ceased to become your PPR.