Vanguard tax advice

ColdIron

CGT is a bread and butter issue for any accountant and for most DIYers

Changing investment platforms is unlikely to help. No DIY platform will give you tax advice (think about it, they would need to know your full tax position at the very least). For that you need an Accountant or Independent Financial Advisor and they don't work for free (there are consequences for them in case of error)

biffer_2

ColdIron said:

Never the less Bed & ISA is still your best bet.

Ahhh, it's OK I get it.   When I said in the original post

"a split of ISA and non-ISA investments"

I assumed people would realise that means everything that can be in an ISA is there, for both myself and my wife.

biffer_2

ColdIron said:

CGT is a bread and butter issue for any accountant and for most DIYers

I need someone to tell me how late in the year to start the selling process based on how fast Vanguard reacts to requests, which stocks are going to be the best option for avoiding the 30 day rule etc...Normal accountant is not going to tell me any of that methinks.

jimjames

biffer_2 said:

ColdIron said:

Never the less Bed & ISA is still your best bet.

Ahhh, it's OK I get it.   When I said in the original post

"a split of ISA and non-ISA investments"

I assumed people would realise that means everything that can be in an ISA is there, for both myself and my wife.

But you seem to be missing that can be done every year going forward. As already mentioned above if you need the money at short notice then investing may not be the right place and keeping an amount as cash might be better option. Or if you want realise gains then sell up and keep the amount as cash each year once you have moved enough into ISAs and maximise your CGT allowance. But then holding lots of cash might not be ideal long term - so it really depends how soon you might need to get the money at short notice.

GeoffTF

No reasonably priced platform will give you tax advice or work out your CGT for you. An old fashioned full service broker may do that, but it will be very costly indeed. It is not difficult to work out your own CGT. The most awkward thing that you will have to cope with is the equalisation. Here is a link to get you started:

https://techzone.abrdn.com/public/investment/Guide-Taxation-of-Collectives

ColdIron

biffer_2 said:

biffer_2 said:

ColdIron said:

Never the less Bed & ISA is still your best bet.

Ahhh, it's OK I get it.   When I said in the original post

"a split of ISA and non-ISA investments"

I assumed people would realise that means everything that can be in an ISA is there, for both myself and my wife.

Yes, this much is obvious. All you need to do is carry on doing this

ColdIron said:

CGT is a bread and butter issue for any accountant and for most DIYers

I need someone to tell me how late in the year to start the selling process based on how fast Vanguard reacts to requests, which stocks are going to be the best option for avoiding the 30 day rule etc...Normal accountant is not going to tell me any of that methinks.

You have a whole year. Vanguard will complete your instructions with in day or so (or instantly for ETFs). The 30 day rule applies to all funds (or stocks) equally so no single one will be best

FWIW I Bed & ISA early in the year before dividends are paid so I am not liable for dividend tax but it's horses for courses

In an ideal world (and a time machine) you would sell at the lowest price so you could tuck away the maximum number of units or shares but no one can tell you when that is

I still think you are massively over thinking this, and am becoming uncertain what it is that you are looking for an answer to. CGT is not hard but if it is beyond you, you need to employ a professional

biffer_2

jimjames said:

But you seem to be missing that can be done every year going forward. As already mentioned above if you need the money at short notice then investing may not be the right place and keeping an amount as cash might be better option. Or if you want realise gains then sell up and keep the amount as cash each year once you have moved enough into ISAs and maximise your CGT allowance. But then holding lots of cash might not be ideal long term - so it really depends how soon you might need to get the money at short notice.

I don't think I'm missing anything to do with ISAs, and I'd appreciate if people could stop discussing them in this thread.  I understand what they are, and I understand I have allowances going forward.  As an aside, what makes you think I won't fund next year's ISA from my income?

As for when I need the funds, surely that's down to me to decide how badly I need them and the hit I'm going to take?  If a family member needed an operation abroad then I wouldn't care about a small loss for one year but I wouldn't want to compound that loss with the taxes on an overall gain going back years either.

biffer_2

GeoffTF said:

No reasonably priced platform will give you tax advice or work out your CGT for you.

Sounds like there's a gap in the market then, if it's so easy and mugs like me are prepared to pay!

jimjames

biffer_2 said:

ColdIron said:

CGT is a bread and butter issue for any accountant and for most DIYers

I need someone to tell me how late in the year to start the selling process based on how fast Vanguard reacts to requests, which stocks are going to be the best option for avoiding the 30 day rule etc...Normal accountant is not going to tell me any of that methinks.

If you're wanting to trade in stocks then Vanguard isn't the right platform for you anyway, they deal with funds and ETFs, funds are only dealt daily and ETFs can be dealt real time.
But it would really help to know what you're trying to achieve with CGT. It makes it very hard to answer a question with minimal information. If you are funding your ISA from income and the taxable portion is static then selling each year is an option you can do within your own control. Just sell and buy a different fund or wait 30 days and buy back again but I don't think many investors do that.

biffer_2 said:

GeoffTF said:

No reasonably priced platform will give you tax advice or work out your CGT for you.

Sounds like there's a gap in the market then, if it's so easy and mugs like me are prepared to pay!

Not sure there's much of a market, you might be prepared to pay but most people doing DIY will not be wanting to pay significant amounts to do something they can do for nothing.

dunstonh

 Is there a company that specialises in this with knowledge of Vanguard?

Vanguard is irrelevant. There are not tax rules specific to Vangaurd.  The tax rules apply to the tax wrapper or unwrapped holdings you use and are the same.  The logo in the corner does not matter.

The thing is, when people say 'just get an accountant' it's not much use for me.  

An accountant isn't for this purpose.   Accountants deal with what has happened.  You are after an IFA.  However, your decision to go with DIY means that its unlikely you would use an IFA.

The whole point in the Life Strategy funds for Vanguard (or so I thought) is that I just forget about my investments for the most part which would be largely true for ISAs but outside the tax-free wrapper that's not really the case. 

I generally tend not to use multi-asset funds outside of a tax wrapper as it can make the job a little harder where annual CGT allowance use is necessary.   Not a lot harder but it removes some flexilibty which would exist with a portfolio of single sector funds.   

There is also the issue of whether GIA is the suitable option.  Depending on the amount, an alternative tax wrapper may be a better option. An offshore bond potentially

The other thing I wondered is if I should not be using Vanguard at all.  If there's another investment platform that gives proper tax advice as an add-in then it may be worth me switching.

Advice comes from an adviser.  Not a platform.

Sounds like there's a gap in the market then, if it's so easy and mugs like me are prepared to pay!

There is no gap.