Vanguard tax advice

biffer_2

jimjames said:

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.

I only invest in funds.  I don't have much of a clue about share investing.  I shouldn't have used the word stocks here.  I guess it would be different types of funds.

jimjames said:

But it would really help to know what you're trying to achieve with CGT.

Use up as much of my annual allowance as I can each year, realise my gains as early as possible to try to avoid hitting future hikes in the CG rate or lowering of the allowance.

jimjames said:

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.

Doesn't that depend on the individual?  I mean loads of people pay someone to do car servicing, fit kitchens, do the conveyancing on a house, but I've done all of these myself.

Then again, I didn't really consider I was doing 'DIY' with Vanguard, I thought that's why I pay them for the funds.  Just out of interest what is the non-DIY way of investing in funds, if what I'm doing is DIY?

dunstonh

f they speed up the process of extracting the relevant information from the Vanguard website, then it's going to be relevant to me.  Maybe not to you if you know what you're looking for.

Well do please tell us what rules HMRC have created that are specific to Vanguard alone?

To the layperson this looks suspiciously like advice:
https://www.vanguardinvestor.co.uk/need-help/answer/whats-a-bed-and-isa-and-how-do-i-do-it

Then you would be wrong.  That is not advice.  

Subjective.
So, you say that there should be someone to fill that gap.  However, there is already someone to fill that gap.  How is that subjective?

ColdIron

biffer_2 said:

dunstonh said:

Vanguard is irrelevant.

If they speed up the process of extracting the relevant information from the Vanguard website, then it's going to be relevant to me.  Maybe not to you if you know what you're looking for.

You need to keep your own records. Vanguard will not do this for you, and for that matter nor will any DIY or Self Select platform

MX5huggy

You are getting bogged down in details that are not important. 

I can’t imagine you have a complex portfolio of dozens of funds. If you’re showing profits of £12300 or more then time to realise those gains (up to £12300). Sell that fund and buy a very similar fund (or set of funds) the next day, if you have LS60 buy 50% LS80 and 50% LS40. 

If you can design and fit a kitchen using measurements of area and volume you can work out your capital gains. 

biffer_2

ColdIron said:

You need to keep your own records. Vanguard will not do this for you, and for that matter nor will any DIY or Self Select platform

I'm looking now at the Vanguard site at a Life Strategy 60% fund which has been running for about a year but I don't see how I know what the dividends were, or even if there were any.  There should be, right?  Because a portion are bonds?  That's the kind of information I want.  I guess I can ask a series of questions to Vanguard support, seems like it may get tiresome though.

biffer_2

MX5huggy said:

, if you have LS60 buy 50% LS80 and 50% LS40.

I don't wish to be a doubting Thomas but how do I know for sure this strategy is OK with HMRC and not tax evasion?  Isn't it effectively buying back the same shares to some degree?

ColdIron

biffer_2 said:

ColdIron said:

You need to keep your own records. Vanguard will not do this for you, and for that matter nor will any DIY or Self Select platform

I'm looking now at the Vanguard site at a Life Strategy 60% fund which has been running for about a year but I don't see how I know what the dividends were, or even if there were any.  There should be, right?  Because a portion are bonds?  That's the kind of information I want.  I guess I can ask a series of questions to Vanguard support, seems like it may get tiresome though.

I would stick to one subject at a time, you are struggling with CGT which seems to be your main issue, don't muddy the waters with dividends

Vanguard will not give you tax advice. All you need are the contract notes and the annual tax certificate that they will produce in the new tax year

Before we go any further can you give us an idea of what sums we are talking about here? I fear you are massively overcomplicating this

dunstonh

I'm looking now at the Vanguard site at a Life Strategy 60% fund which has been running for about a year but I don't see how I know what the dividends were, or even if there were any. 

Did you go income units?   That is normally the common sense thing to do with a GIA as it makes everything so much easier when it comes to tax calculations.    However, if you didn't you will need to work out it manually.  A fairly simple calculation from available data.

biffer_2

ColdIron said:

Before we go any further can you give us an idea of what sums we are talking about here? I fear you are massively overcomplicating this

It's £100K in LS60% so the gain is within my allowance at the moment.  I guess what I do this year is pretty simple, just sell the lot because I haven't used any of my CG allowance this year. I had intended to change to LS100% going forward so future years may gain more on that sum.  I also may add to what I've got in Vanguard from other investments so it's likely this amount increases before I can move it all into ISAs and (sadly) I may get some inheritance soon.

ColdIron

As already mentioned, I had a Bed & ISA project on a larger sum that was mostly VLS80. Even after 6 years I had spare headroom without having to resort to additional selling

You could just sell the lot but few people need to go down that route

As these are unwrapped investments you must keep accurate records of all purchases and disposals. Save all your contract notes and make a spreadsheet to keep a running total of your costs. Life will get very complicated if you don't do this

PS I still think investing is unwise if you need sudden access to your funds in the near term