I just worked out how to avoid CGT…

Reaper

Yes I agree they are not suitable for everyone and the risk level is high, but if the OP is determined to do everything to avoid CGT it's another option 

masonic

aroominyork said:

Agreed, masonic - I over-simplified. But More_complicated raised a worthwhile point not to assume  'sheltered' always wins out: 10% of capital growth plus 8.75% dividend tax - especially if you have an allowance to reduce both of them - can have benefits over 20%*75% of the (dividends reinvested) total. During recent years when equities were motoring and bonds were crawling, the balance could have favoured unwrapped equities. Now we wait to see what changes Labour makes.

Yes, all of my comments have been in the context of using contemporary low coupon gilts unwrapped, where there is an unusual tax advantage. It is dangerous to generalise to all asset mixes or unusual economic circumstances. It is also possible for equities to have negative returns or underperform gilts for long periods of time, which would change things considerably.

masonic

Reaper said:

For completeness there is another option - Venture Capital Trusts. No need to hold them in any tax wrapper because if you buy them new and hold onto them for 5 years you get:
 * 30% upfront income tax relief
* any growth free of CGT
* tax free dividends

BUT
* much higher risk than gilts
* can be hard to get a good price when selling

These used to be worth considering before the rules got tightened, as some really quite low risk assets were eligible for inclusion.