Cashing In Shares And Investing Them

lorna2508_2

Hi,
My mum has got £27000 worth of shares that she has transfered into my name for a deposit on a house.
I have heard that to avoid capital gains tax you can only cash in £8500 a year.
I will want this money in the next 2 years so would I be better off to leave it where it is and pay the tax or to start cashing it in now and putting it in high interest savings accounts?
If so, what sort of accounts would I be best off investing it in.

Thanks

Chrismaths

As you are not married to your mother (I can assume!) then you are deemed for tax purposes to have received the shares at the market price at the time of transfer. Your mother would be liable for CGT if she has made significant gains on the shares. You can make gains in any one tax year up to the exemption (this year £8800) without paying CGT. So assuming the price of the shares has not moved too significantly since you received the shares, you are unlikely to have any tax liability at all.

Saving in cash is not investing. It is saving. You would be selling investments to make savings. Read Martin's articles on how to make the most interest on your money, or check the 3789098 other threads on this board that deal with the issue.

Hope this helps, Chris