Tax on US shares

kiwi7_2 · 27 December 2008 at 6:48PM

I have some US shares, if I sell them at a loss do I have any tax to the US gov (and if so hoew do Ido this), if I keep them and they go up in value and then sell them at a profit how is this taxed? I would be grateful of any assistance as am confused.

Gwhiz · 27 December 2008 at 6:56PM

Are you a US tax payer? If you are only a UK tax payer then the US tax people need know nothing about this at all. If a US tax payer put it on your US tax return as you can carry over losses.

kiwi7_2 · 27 December 2008 at 7:01PM

No I am a UK taxpayer, when you say the US need to know nothing is this legal? Does my UK capital gains allowance count if I make nay profit from these shares?

tradetime · 27 December 2008 at 7:46PM

How did you come by these shares, if through a broker they should have had you fill out a W8-BEN which is basically a tax withholding form for countries which have tax agreements with the US, and yes any profits are subject to UK capital gains, current tax exempt level I believe is £9600.

kiwi7_2 · 27 December 2008 at 8:22PM

Thanks for that- I think I am clear now- I did fill in a w*-BEN. I did have one other question- My wife and I have an investment in a Unit Trust based in Australia that pays a very small dividend each year- £20 maximum- do we need to declare this incoem on a tax return? We have not filed one before.

tradetime · 27 December 2008 at 8:47PM

To be honest, I am not sure, the fact that it is Australia should not make any difference, as far as I remember if the sum of your capital gains is below £9600 per year currently (it rises regularly) then there is no requirement to declare this, if you were unsure / uncomfortable you can always phone the inland revenue and speak to someone there, they will advise you

kiwi7_2 · 27 December 2008 at 8:54PM

Thanks mate, hopefully someone else might know for certain, if not I will ring

Cook_County · 27 December 2008 at 11:25PM

Gains and losses are reported on the capital gains pages of your UK return unless you are non-UK domiciled & claiming the remittance basis on your UK return.

Gains are exempt from US tax for non-resident aliens.

barak · 28 December 2008 at 12:39AM

kiwi7 wrote: »

I did have one other question- My wife and I have an investment in a Unit Trust based in Australia that pays a very small dividend each year- £20 maximum- do we need to declare this income on a tax return? We have not filed one before.

This must technically be "Foreign Income", which could necessitate a full tax return complete with Foreign Income section.

However, if (1) the dividend remains at that level (2) it is your only Foreign Income and (3) there is no other reason for you to complete a return, I suspect that if you enquire, you will probably be told that in view of the small amount involved it is not necessary.

I may be wrong, as it is probably a discretionary decision, but I know of a similar situation.

eeja · 28 December 2008 at 6:22PM

Cook_County wrote: »

Gains and losses are reported on the capital gains pages of your UK return unless you are non-UK domiciled & claiming the remittance basis on your UK return.

Gains are exempt from US tax for non-resident aliens.

Non resident UK nationals are also exempt from Capital Gains tax.
Originally you only had to be non resident for the tax year but so many people who were due to make large taxable gains left the UK for a tax year that steadily the government has extended the period before capital gains are exempt .
I believe the period of non residency required is now 5 years.

Tax on US shares

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