SAYE - Selling Shares

robbied81

Any kind soul able to help me? My shares have matured and I have taken up the option to buy them. As part of the process, the company have created me a stocks and shares ISA account and they have put in £20,000 worth of them in there. Is it safe to sell these without getting taxed?

Thanks
Rob

Malthusian

If they're in a stocks and shares ISA you won't pay any tax on sale.

Do I gather that you have more shares than the £20,000 that has gone in the ISA? If so it may be better to sell the ones outside the ISA. If the sale proceeds minus the amount you paid for the sold shares is less than £11,300, and you haven't used your annual capital gains allowance in some other way, then there won't be any capital gains tax. You should use up your capital gains allowance before you deplete the tax-free ISA.

robbied81

Hi,

I have the same amount of shares worth £20,000 outside the ISA but these are in the process of being gifted to my wife.

She will only have a share certifcate. This leads me to the next question -

I bought the shares for £9,000k. Would she be liable for capital gains tax on the whole £20k or is it still the case it takes into account the amount spent on the shares?

Thanks
Rob

Malthusian

Transfers between spouses have no effect on CGT so she retains the same acqusition cost. Assuming she has no other gains, the capital gain is £20k - £9k = £11k which is within her allowance, so no capital gains tax to pay.

Presumably you do have other capital gains in this tax year because otherwise transferring the shares to her is a waste of time.

robbied81

Malthusian wrote: »

Transfers between spouses have no effect on CGT so she retains the same acqusition cost. Assuming she has no other gains, the capital gain is £20k - £9k = £11k which is within her allowance, so no capital gains tax to pay.

Presumably you do have other capital gains in this tax year because otherwise transferring the shares to her is a waste of time.

Hi,

I don't have other capital gains. I just wanted to give her the flexibility to keep them if she so wanted.

C_Mababejive

When you acquired the shares you had 90 days to transfer them into a S & S ISA . Did this happen within 90 days?

Also check the fees charged by your ISA provider. Companies who offer SAYE shares often have cosy arrangements with certain ISA providers whos charges are sometimes on the high side.

Malthusian

robbied81 wrote: »

I don't have other capital gains. I just wanted to give her the flexibility to keep them if she so wanted.

Fair enough. But if her husband wasn't in a SAYE scheme, is it likely that she would want to take £20,000 of her own money and invest it in your employer of her own volition? If not, it makes no sense to retain them - it's the same decision. It would make more sense to sell them and invest in something more diversified.

It is a classic mistake to hold on to shares in your employer (or your husband's employer) - you are extremely exposed because if the company goes down the tubes you lose your job, your income and your savings as well.

robbied81

Hi,

As part of the share maturity the company Equiniti set this up and transferred them in there automatically.

Thanks
Rob

robbied81

Malthusian wrote: »

Fair enough. But if her husband wasn't in a SAYE scheme, is it likely that she would want to take £20,000 of her own money and invest it in your employer of her own volition? If not, it makes no sense to retain them - it's the same decision. It would make more sense to sell them and invest in something more diversified.

It is a classic mistake to hold on to shares in your employer (or your husband's employer) - you are extremely exposed because if the company goes down the tubes you lose your job, your income and your savings as well.

I agree, we don't really deal in Stocks and shares to be honest it was just seen as an employee benefit which has worked out quite well.

AndyT678

robbied81 wrote: »

Hi,

As part of the share maturity the company Equiniti set this up and transferred them in there automatically.

Thanks
Rob

How nice of them. Of course they will now begin charging you £45 every 6 months for keeping them there.

Equiniti wrote:

There is a fee of just 0.25% of the value of your holdings (payable half yearly, minimum of £10, maximum of £37.50+ VAT)

There are other providers that will charge nothing to hold them. You could transfer to one of these and keep the shares or sell them and buy something more diversified.

MallyGirl

Their selling fee is high too. I opted to let Equiniti nowhere near my ShareSave once it matured. I had made more than the CGT limit on mine last time so I transferred some to husband and we both sold through x-o for £5.95 each fixed fee.