Multiple main residence claims

The taxpayer claimed only or main residence relief TCGA 1992 s 222 on the sale of four properties during 2009/10 and 2010/11. He also owned a farmhouse which he said he used every day as part of his livestock farming business.

HMRC refused the relief on the ground that the taxpayer had failed to prove that he lived at any of the properties in question with any degree of permanence. He did however occupy the farmhouse permanently. They imposed penalties for the submission of inaccurate returns.

The taxpayer appealed saying the properties were used as second residences and he made main residence claims for each of them.

The First-tier Tribunal found that the farmhouse was the taxpayer’s only or main residence at all relevant times. Although the tribunal accepted the taxpayer’s definition of a second home as being a place he would rather live...