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I am not a tax advisor, but I believe it works like this:
If it's not a primary residence CGT is due from the seller when they make a profit. It applies only to the profit between their original purchase price and the sale price, and is taxed at 28% (residential property) or 20% (all other assets). If this is land and not a house, then it should be 20%.
https://www.gov.uk/capital-gains-tax/rates
So... if you're offering to pay and she bought for £150k and is selling at £200k, £50k is profit and becomes taxable at 20%, so £10k (20% of £50k) is due as CGT tax that the seller must pay to HMRC. But... CGT is only applicable above an allowance https://www.gov.uk/capital-gains-tax/allowances and the allowance is £12.3k so in fact... no tax to pay.
With that in mind and if you can find the original price that they acquired the land for... and determine whether or not the land would be considered residential property (is there a house on it?). With those things you should be able to calculate the ballpark of the tax that she would be facing, and then be informed about whether you could be in a position to offer to cover or not.
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It depends how straightforward it is. If she just bought the land, did nothing to it and then sold it to you then it's easy for you to calculate.
If it's part of a bigger parcel of land, money has been spent on it, etc then it's more complicated and you may need professional advice.
Similarly, is she doing a straightforward PAYE job or are there other things that will give rise to CGT. E.g. selling land/properties/shares/bitcoin. Are you going to get the benefit of her personal allowance?
Does she already have someone do a tax return for her? If so that would probably be the best person to speak to (she'd need to give permission).
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The issue is that she will have to pay Capital Gains Tax on the sale. In this area, I have little to no knowledge.
You don't need to acquire knowledge on this, it's a distraction - offer her a fair price for the land, if she declines, offer to pay more until she agrees or just walk. Her CGT calculation is by the by really, only she knows what she'll sell for and what she considers value. Likewise the same for you.
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Velocio
aggi
Howard
@Hobo
I have finally found a plot of land for which the owner has not flat out said no to the possibility of selling it.
The issue is that she will have to pay Capital Gains Tax on the sale. In this area, I have little to no knowledge. I'm wondering whether it'd be best to contact an accountant or solicitor? One idea is that we would cover the CGT in the overall offer but this is dependent on her asking price.