Tax to pay on selling Commonwealth Bank of Australia shares following probate

MayQueen

I am executor to my fathers estate. He left shares in the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. I have sent the grant of probate to Link Market Services, who are the company dealing with the shares and have set up an account with them with change of address details and executor bank account details for the payment of dividends, whilst waiting for the share price to go back up following the Covid crisis. Now that the share price is going back up I need to sell the shares. My question is, if anyone knows, will there be tax to pay in Australia and/or the UK, when I sell? NB There was no UK tax to pay to HMRC on my fathers' estate.

Keep_pedalling

As far as the U.K. is concerned the only tax issue might be capital gains tax if you have made a substantial gain on the sale (sale price - price at date of death) 

MayQueen

Hello again, Keep-pedalling. I don't think it will be substantial, maybe 1.7 K at todays rate. Does it not depend on how much allowance you have with  IHT? I suppose I will try to find out if any Australian shares sold are taxed at source. I don't want to pay two lots of tax!

Brynsam

MayQueen said:

Hello again, Keep-pedalling. I don't think it will be substantial, maybe 1.7 K at todays rate. Does it not depend on how much allowance you have with  IHT? I suppose I will try to find out if any Australian shares sold are taxed at source. I don't want to pay two lots of tax!

It's not an IHT issue. Whoever inherited the shares inherited them at the value they had when your father died. Any gain will therefore be subject to Capital Gains Tax, but only if the beneficiary has used up their CGT allowance in the tax year of sale (currently £12,300).

MayQueen

Thank you. I wish I was cleverer at this stuff, it's complicated!