eToro trades and tax return -- account for individual trades or just net account movement?

oxontrader

I am unsure on whether to declare the net withdrawals in the tax year (withdrawals minus deposits) or actually report each and every trade made. The problem with the latter is that there are literally hundreds of trades, and all denominated in dollars, which would make it a nightmare to perform the conversion for each one using the exchnage rate of that particular day and time.

Surely it would be enough to report the NET withdrawals, given that money in the eToro account can't be spent -- it's the net withdrawals back into one's bank account that reflect the real profit in GBP.

In other words, is it not far more sensible to treat deposits as expenses and withdrawals as revenue and calculate Capital Gains on that basis? Reporting 600+ trades executed over 12 months seems ultimately inconsequential to the actual tax owed.

Am I wrong?

masonic

Do they not supply a consolidated tax certificate or similar? You cannot deduct fees and other expenses from your capital gains, so your net cash position is not going to be an accurate measure of your net gains. Do you think you have made a net gain above your CGT allowance?

It makes most sense to record your gains and losses as you go along. Or perhaps reconsider making hundreds of trades and adopt a more sensible investment strategy, perhaps within an ISA.