Employers shares vesting while on maternity leave

Phoenixology

I'm on maternity leave April 17- April 18 earning just over £11k in maternity pay in the year. On a normal 1150L tax code. I have £8k of company shares that have just vested (wooh!) and I need to decide whether to take them now or in 6 months time.

I'd rather take them now but just trying to figure on what if any tax implications this would have. As I see it, I should be charged full basic rate on anything over £11,500 anyway so doesn't matter when I take them.

Would appreciate any sage advice from MoneySaving experts, as I'm struggling to get my head around it.

madgagoo

From a tax perspective the £8,000 will just be added to your income and taxed at basic rate, if your total income is less than £43,000 for the year. So, as long as your total income (including the shares) is less than £43k, it doesn't matter when you take them - it will be at basic rate.

Remember to factor in National Insurance as well. Also, think about the value of the shares - are they likely to go up or down in value?

p00hsticks

I'm not an expert, but wouldn't this be taxed as a Capital Gain rather than income ?

You have a CGT allowance of £11,300 in addition to your income tax allowane of £11,500

sheramber

If you are selling the shares then you will be liable to capital gains tax as said above not income tax,

Yu have a separate Capital Gains allowance.

Previn

Is it a sharesave or SAYE scheme?
If so & you want to sell them there is a potential capital gains risk depending on how much of this years £11300 you have left.
Alternatively you could wait till next year for a new allowance or could put them directly into an ISA where they could grow & collect dividends with no capital gains ever applied when you do sell