As suggested above, planning a sale and considering the tax implications are better done before rather than after a transaction and this is a subject which can seem simple, but can throw up many complications when one delves deeper and a detailed reply would take a considerable amount of space.
All of the points made above are valid and may be worth considering and some or all of the gain on the sale of a property may be exempt if it had been used as the only or main residence (including periods when such a property had been let).
We also do not know whether there are, or might be created, losses that could be set against the gain. Remember that such losses can be set off if they are being carried forward from a previous year or occur in the same year, even if after the property sale.
But let us assume that this is a second property that does not qualify for any relief or loss to set against the gain. Perhaps it was a holiday home or a ‘buy-to-let’ and the whole gain is assessable. As suggested above, in some circumstances it might have been better to have transferred the property into joint names, but this may not be one of them.
Remember that both husband and wife are each entitled to the annual capital gains tax exemption of £10,100 to set against their (assumed) half shares of the gain. The husband would have lost this if the whole property had been transferred to his wife before sale.
Rather than work through the calculations here, the HMRC website at
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/rates/cgt.htm has an explanation of the 2010/11 capital gains tax rates and comparative calculations could be done by Stephen. I think that this might be a case where a lower liability arises from joint ownership because the loss of the husband’s exemption would not be outweighed by the wife’s reduced tax rates.
Finally, remember that a flat 18% tax rate applies if the sale took place before 23 June 2010.
This is probably a case where professional advice should be taken.