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Self Assessment and Capital Gains/Losses
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princeofpounds
Posts: 10,396 Forumite


in Cutting tax
Hi all, sorry if this is a rather basic question, but I have been searching the forums and the web for an answer and can't seem to find it.
I am filling out a tax self-assessment form online, as I have done for several years now.
Last year, I crystallised a capital loss (Boo!). That was declared on the SA form.
This year, I made a capital gain (Yay!). This is above the capital gains threshold, so ordinarily some capital gains tax would be payable.
Obviously I now want to use the loss to offset those gains.
The part I am having trouble with is - how do I practically do this?
Do I merely report my gains this year, and then the calculation of my tax liability HMRC does automatically knows of my past loss and offsets it?
Or is there a special box where I have to make an entry to show I am offsetting the loss against these gains?
All the HMRC advice I've found so far is dicussing the theoretical rules, which I understand - the part I don't get is how to fill in the actual form itself!
I am filling out a tax self-assessment form online, as I have done for several years now.
Last year, I crystallised a capital loss (Boo!). That was declared on the SA form.
This year, I made a capital gain (Yay!). This is above the capital gains threshold, so ordinarily some capital gains tax would be payable.
Obviously I now want to use the loss to offset those gains.
The part I am having trouble with is - how do I practically do this?
Do I merely report my gains this year, and then the calculation of my tax liability HMRC does automatically knows of my past loss and offsets it?
Or is there a special box where I have to make an entry to show I am offsetting the loss against these gains?
All the HMRC advice I've found so far is dicussing the theoretical rules, which I understand - the part I don't get is how to fill in the actual form itself!
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Comments
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princeofpounds wrote: »Hi all, sorry if this is a rather basic question, but I have been searching the forums and the web for an answer and can't seem to find it.
I am filling out a tax self-assessment form online, as I have done for several years now.
Last year, I crystallised a capital loss (Boo!). That was declared on the SA form.
This year, I made a capital gain (Yay!). This is above the capital gains threshold, so ordinarily some capital gains tax would be payable.
Obviously I now want to use the loss to offset those gains.
The part I am having trouble with is - how do I practically do this?
Do I merely report my gains this year, and then the calculation of my tax liability HMRC does automatically knows of my past loss and offsets it?
Or is there a special box where I have to make an entry to show I am offsetting the loss against these gains?
All the HMRC advice I've found so far is dicussing the theoretical rules, which I understand - the part I don't get is how to fill in the actual form itself!
You need to fill in the box:
Losses brought forward and used in the year
and possibly
Losses available to be carried forward to later years
But be careful:
Let's say that you had a loss of £5000 carried forward from 2012/13 and a gain of £13900 in 2013/14. In the first box you enter £3000. In the second box you enter £2000. That is because you only need to claim sufficient losses to bring total gains less losses down to the annual exemption level of £10900 in 2013/14.
There are 10 types of people in the world - those who understand binary and those who do not. :doh:0 -
Thanks for that. I see those boxes. What about this box which is between those two?
"Adjustment to Capital Gains Tax. Please read the notes:"
The really-not-helpful description just says:
"This field will not apply to many people. The amount to enter is the amount of the adjustment needed to increase or reduce the amount of Capital Gains Tax HM Revenue & Customs will calculate, based on your entries on the capital gains summary pages.
You must explain in your computations how any adjustment has been calculated. If your adjustment reduces the amount of Capital Gains Tax payable, please put a minus sign in the box provided before the adjustment figure."0 -
That is for adjustments to any basic calculation e.g. Private residence relief on a property - for basic share gains or losses it should be irrelevantThere are 10 types of people in the world - those who understand binary and those who do not. :doh:0
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