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CB 15E: Disposals of land subject to section CW 3C
or “Tax rules for selling land you got from dividing shared property”
You could also call this:

“No tax on selling your main home within two years, with some exceptions”

You don’t have to pay tax on the money you make from selling your home, even if you sell it within two years of buying it. This rule applies if you’ve used the house as your main home for most of the time you’ve owned it. If you’re a trustee selling a house, you don’t have to pay tax if it was the main home of someone who benefits from the trust.

When figuring out if a house was your main home for most of the time, you can ignore the time it took to build the house.

However, there are some times when you might have to pay tax, even if it was your main home. This can happen if you’ve already used this tax-free rule twice in the last two years, or if you keep buying and selling homes that you live in.

These rules don’t just apply to one person. They can also apply to a group of people who live or have lived in the same house. This group can include companies or other organisations if someone in the group has a lot of control over what the organisation does.

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Next up: CB 16: Residential exclusion from sections CB 6 to CB 11

or “Exemption from tax when selling your main home”
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Part C Income
Income from business or trade-like activities: Exclusions for residential land

CB 16AMain home exclusion for disposal within 2 years

  1. Section CB 6A does not apply to a person who disposes of residential land if the land has been used predominantly, for most of the bright-line period, for a dwelling that was the main home of—

  2. the person; or
    1. a beneficiary of a trust, if the person is a trustee of the trust and—
      1. a principal settlor of the trust does not have a main home; or
        1. if a principal settlor of the trust does have a main home, it is that main home that the person is disposing of.

        2. For the purposes of determining under subsection (1) whether residential land has been used for most of the bright-line period predominantly for a dwelling that was the main home of the person or a beneficiary of a trust, as described in subsection (1), the period in which the dwelling was constructed is ignored.

        3. The exclusion in subsection (1) does not apply to a person who disposes of residential land if—

        4. the exclusion has been used by the person twice within the 2 years immediately preceding the bright-line end date for the residential land:
          1. the person has engaged in a regular pattern of acquiring and disposing of residential land described in subsection (1).

            1. For the purposes of subsection (3)(b), person includes a group of persons if the requirements of subsection (5) are met.

            2. For the purposes of subsection (4), a group of persons—

            3. means 2 or more persons when together all the persons occupy, or have occupied, residential land described in subsection (1); and
              1. includes a person other than a natural person (the non-natural person) if another person referred to in paragraph (a) has significant involvement in, or control of, the activities of the non-natural person. For the avoidance of doubt, if the other person can direct, alone or as part of a group, the activities of the non-natural person, they have significant involvement in, or control of, the activities of the non-natural person.

                Notes
                • Section CB 16A: replaced, on , by section 12(5) (and see section 12(6) for application) of the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Act 2024 (2024 No 11).