CGT: exemption reduction next year and 2024

TMSG

So far, I've never really needed to look into CGT as any gains were below the exemption. Now, with the exemption going down to £6000 next year and to £3000 the following, I am beginning to think about strategies to minimise the tax due. If I have £50k in some bond with £10k in gains, I'd have to pay CGT if I sell it in one go. So the idea would be to sell only a part of an investment per one tax year such that the gain is just below £6000 (or £3000 later) and do the same the following year.

However, under the 30-day rule I'd want to wait 31 days to buy back the same investment. I am free though to buy another investment immediately afterwards. The question now is what counts as "different"? Say I hold two very similar, long-running gilts (or bonds) A and B (but different investments with different ISINs). If I sell a part of A and buy B for the proceeds is that OK under those rules? And perhaps do the same next year, just in reverse?

Any other ideas as to how I can make good use of the yearly CGT exemption are very welcome indeed!

[Deleted User]

What kind of gilts and bonds are they? I was under the impression that gilts are generally exempt from CGT.

Jeremy535897

So are most corporate bonds if in UK companies.

[Deleted User]

Jeremy535897 said:

So are most corporate bonds if in UK companies.

Possibly confusing capital gains and chargeable events (gains)?

Jeremy535897

[Deleted User] said:

Jeremy535897 said:

So are most corporate bonds if in UK companies.

Possibly confusing capital gains and chargeable events (gains)?

It crossed my mind, yes, although the usual term "investment bond" was not in the OP.

TMSG

Hm... I tried to keep it simple and oversimplified . The bonds in questions are not real gov.uk gilts (yeah, that was rash) but Irish gov Euro bonds and gains on these are almost certainly not tax free... correct me if I'm wrong?!

I bought some of those a good while back and now have significant gains on them. I do not need to sell any of these ATM but then again I don't want to have to sell them sometime in the future and then possibly run into a big CGT bill if I can somehow "distribute" those gains beforehand over some years and w/o too much loss.

Sorry for the confusion.

[Deleted User]

It appears that they are exempt from CGT

https://cantorfitzgerald.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/pdf_bonds_guide.pdf

Jeremy535897

It is not my area of expertise, but I would note that your post appears to be advising that Irish government bonds are exempt from Irish capital gains tax?

The UK position appears to be that, as Eurobonds are not bonds expressed in sterling, they cannot be qualifying corporate bonds. Nor are they exempt gilts, not being issued by the UK government and therefore not on the relevant list. Consequently they are subject to UK capital gains tax when realised by a UK resident?

[Deleted User]

Jeremy535897 said:

It is not my area of expertise, but I would note that your post appears to be advising that Irish government bonds are exempt from Irish capital gains tax?

The UK position appears to be that, as Eurobonds are not bonds expressed in sterling, they cannot be qualifying corporate bonds. Nor are they exempt gilts, not being issued by the UK government and therefore not on the relevant list. Consequently they are subject to UK capital gains tax when realised by a UK resident?

Yes - I think they were issued as part of the Irish bank bail out in the financial crisis of 2008 and that rung a bell regarding their tax free status. 

As to the U.K. position - I will bow to your superior knowledge.

Jeremy535897

As I said, I am by no means confident of the answer, as it is not my area of expertise, but I cannot see anything that exempts them. 

TMSG

@[Deleted User] Hm... I've read through the PDF you linked (thanks!) and, like @Jeremy535897 I'm under the impression that this is meant for Irish tax payers but not for UK tax payers. I may be wrong though.

OK, let me just assume for the moment that @Jeremy535897 is right and these bonds are indeed not exempt for UK tax payers... would two different bonds with different maturity dates and different ISINs be "different" in the sense I described in my OP? I assume they would... but my intuitive assumptions about tax stuff have often been utterly and totally wrong .

(I also have reporting ETFs with a similar setup, ie where I could sell one ETF and buy another one which tracks the same index, so this question is not only related to the bonds.)