PPR & NPPR issue - complicated issue

We moved out of our home at the end of August 2009 to take up residence in my wife's family home which was going through the probate process (agreed with her sister and all inheritance tax has been paid). I continued to use our original home occasionally as and when my work dictated and we didn't rent it out. We are now selling the original home and I'm wondering about our liability to capital gains tax. I think we have a 12 month CGT grace period after moving out but I'm not sure???

Another complication is that we paid NPPR tax on the original home in 2009 and 2010. I recently checked the NPPR details and the 2009 charge was based on the status of the property at the 31st July and had to be paid by the end of Sept 2009 (after we moved). We assumed incorrectly that the Sept deadline was the applicable date which was after we moved but in hindsight we should not have paid the charge as we were still resident there in July. Obviously, in this case we should have paid it on my wife's family home. I now fear that the payment of the NPPR could be seen as a declaration that we had moved before the end of June 2009 and that CGT will apply to the sale.

You do indeed have a 12 month grace period before you become liable to CGT on your former PPR. You would need to have contracts for sale signed by the end of this month to avoid CGT. Failing that, you would be liable for CGT on a time-proportioned basis. Renting out the house or not makes no difference.
I would contact the local authority to which you paid NPPR tax in 2009 in writing explaining that you were mistaken to pay it and requesting a refund.
Sybil

Thanks Mrs Vimes,

How do we prove we only moved at the end of August 2009 and not earlier? As we didn't buy the house that we moved to we don't have a contract of sale/purchase to prove dates.

Also, as the house was in probate at the time and my father-in-law's solicitor is the executor of the estate are we actually liable for the NPPR charge at all? We'd probably end up paying for it anyway in the long run but I'd like to know the facts on this.

Do you own the house you are in now? If so, when did it convey to you?
CGT is a self-assessed tax so really you are declaring when you moved. Supporting evidence could include changing the ESB into your name, informing the tax office/bank/GP/mobile phone co of your new address. Did children start school nearby that Sept? I doubt you'll be asked for proof, but if you have any mail addressed
to new address dated early Sept I would think that would constitute proof.
Sybil

Well, this is the bit I really don't understand. The house is still in probate and we don't own it yet. It's taking a while to sort this out because of other assets that need to be sold off and divided up. So who own's the house??? The solicitor, mentioned earlier, is the executor of the will/estate (whatever is the correct technical term) and we are residing in house in the meantime, having verballed agreed this with my wife's only sibling.

I'm not Ivor Callely by the way

For the purpose of determining your nppr, ownership of the house in which you reside is irrelevant. The house is still owned by the estate. You are concerned about residence in your old house. You need to declare to Revenue when you moved out of your old house, where to is not relevant. It is unlikely that Revenue will ever ask for any proof of when that occurred but in the event that they do, it could be useful to hold onto the first sets of bills, bank statements, whatever could be admissable.
To my mind you moved into the house when it became your home. This could be the first night you slept there (even if occasionally sleeping in the old house) or when you moved in your furniture.
Sybil