Help please - Capital gains tax on Abbey / Santander shares

mikeydis · 23 July 2016 at 3:21PM

Hi,

I was hoping someone could please help as I'm very confused.

In 1989, my parents purchased 100 shares in Abbey National (at 10p each) for me and in 2004 Santander purchased Abbey National, at which point my shares were either converted to Santander shares or sold and Santander shares automatically purchased.

These are not within an ISA, but are within Santander's nominee scheme.

I wish to now sell the shares however am unsure if I would be due to pay Capital Gains Tax on these and if so, whether this would be based on the price my parents paid for the original Abbey shares in 1989 (in which case I would have made a profit) or if against the price of the Santander shares from 2004 (in which case I would be making a loss at this stage).

So my questions are:

1 / Does anyone know if the Abbey shares were converted to Santander shares in 2004 or if they were sold and Santander shares purchased?

2/ (Possibly answered by the above) If I would be basing my profit / loss on the Abbey purchase price in 1989 or the 2004 Santander price?.

Sorry if this is obvious, however I am new to all this.

Kind regards,
Mike.

bigadaj · 23 July 2016 at 3:25PM

It doesn't sound as if the value of these shares is huge.

You have a capital gains tax allowance of £11000, so if it's less than that you haven't any tax to pay.

What has been done with dividends over the years?

mikeydis · 23 July 2016 at 3:30PM

Hi,

Thanks for the response. You're right, the value is currently only about £300 - £400.

Is the Capital Gains tax allowance in addition to my own personal tax allowance? Again, sorry if this is a stupid question.

Thanks
Mike.

Vortigern · 23 July 2016 at 3:49PM

CGT is separate from income tax. If you sell the shares for £400 you can't have made a taxable gain in excess of £11,000 unless you've made other taxable gains in the same tax year. Have you sold a spare house, or an expensive work of art recently?