Tax on shares

Tayus

Hi all,

I purchased a small amount of shares approx 6 months ago and they are currently up and i am looking to sell them the only thing that i am unsure on is tax and how much you have to pay when selling them / is it taken off automatically?

Blah99

Tayus wrote: »

Hi all,

I purchased a small amount of shares approx 6 months ago and they are currently up and i am looking to sell them the only thing that i am unsure on is tax and how much you have to pay when selling them / is it taken off automatically?

You pay stamp duty when you buy them, but the only tax on sale is CGT, so unless you've made more than £9,600 of capital gains (not just shares, any asset included) and used up your CGT allowance you won't have to pay anything.

adambro

You may need to pay tax on any profits you've made. This is called capital gains tax. You have an allowance of £9,600 in this tax year and so if in this year you have totalled less than that then you won't have anything to pay. If you've exceeded your allowance you'll be required to pay 18% of anything exceeding your allowance.

CGT isn't taken off automatically since it isn't possible for them to know what other gains you've had in that year. You pay it through your self-assessment tax return if you do one or by simply contacting HMRC and declaring you need to make a payment if you don't do a tax return.

My understanding is that share trades are reported to HMRC so you can't get away without paying them.

You can find more information about CGT at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/cgt/shares/.

Tayus

ok so if i havent made more than 9600 i dont have to do anything?

Blah99

Tayus wrote: »

ok so if i havent made more than 9600 i dont have to do anything?

Correct.....