CGT/ DRIP/share sales

Tri2012

I’d appreciate ,if some assistance, as a basic rate tax payer.

I had  shareplans with my employer, bank which were a total fail following 2008 crash and covid.

September 2022  i sold matured share plans  costing £10800 for £9331
July 2025 shareplans where shares cost upwards of £2.84 to £3.80 each at 78pence -a loss of £2606-no point keeping them as will never make the shareplan prices i paid!

I’ve been having a google and believe I can complete an on line HMRC for CGT losses  for both 2022 and 2025 share sales.

If this is correct then i would complete a form for the loss for 2022 asap for 24.25 tax year and then what i;ve lost  in July after April for 25/26 tax year?  Or do I complete that form now as well?

Would i then be able to sell further shares at  a profit of £7000 and there wouldn’t be any CGT to pay?

All of the other sells i would be selling would be DRIP - I’m being taxed by HMRC as the dividends for shares are over £500.  I have all the historical share prices thank you Yahoo!

I’m trying to lower my tax liability and it’s a bit frustrating !  Employers should really explain details better about dividends, CGT -

 I know that many  of my colleagues have sold shares over the CGT limit, receive dividends  way more than mine and believe they don’t have to declare anything to HMRC.

Have i got my thoughts all wrong?

thank you in advance.

vacheron

My (limited) understanding is that you can offset a capital loss against a capital gain, but only if they both occurred in the same tax year. EDIT: Having just googled this, it appears that you can!... I guess ignorance of the detail of this rule is the one downside of having never sold shares at a loss.   

• Reporting requirement: You must claim your losses by including them on your Self Assessment tax return. The time limit for claiming a loss is generally four years after the end of the tax year in which the loss occurred, but once reported can be carried forward indefinitely.

So if, like yourself, you are sitting on a capital loss that you don't feel will ever recover, by selling, and thereby realising, say, a £2,000 loss, you can then realise a £5,000 capital gain from selling better performing shares without exceeding the £3,000 CGT threshold.

With regard to your colleagues acheiving more gains / dividends but without needing to inform HMRC, perhaps they owned their shares in an ISA where such gains are tax free?

mybestattempt

Tri2012 said:

I’d appreciate ,if some assistance, as a basic rate tax payer.

I had  shareplans with my employer, bank which were a total fail following 2008 crash and covid.

September 2022  i sold matured share plans  costing £10800 for £9331
July 2025 shareplans where shares cost upwards of £2.84 to £3.80 each at 78pence -a loss of £2606-no point keeping them as will never make the shareplan prices i paid!

I’ve been having a google and believe I can complete an on line HMRC for CGT losses  for both 2022 and 2025 share sales.

If this is correct then i would complete a form for the loss for 2022 asap for 24.25 tax year and then what i;ve lost  in July after April for 25/26 tax year?  Or do I complete that form now as well?

Would i then be able to sell further shares at  a profit of £7000 and there wouldn’t be any CGT to pay?

All of the other sells i would be selling would be DRIP - I’m being taxed by HMRC as the dividends for shares are over £500.  I have all the historical share prices thank you Yahoo!

I’m trying to lower my tax liability and it’s a bit frustrating !  Employers should really explain details better about dividends, CGT -

 I know that many  of my colleagues have sold shares over the CGT limit, receive dividends  way more than mine and believe they don’t have to declare anything to HMRC.

Have i got my thoughts all wrong?

thank you in advance.

This link explains how to report losses to HMRC:

https://www.gov.uk/capital-gains-tax/losses#:~:text=Claim for your loss by

It doesn't matter what your colleagues may believe as their circumstances may be different or they may simply not understand what they need to report.

Dead_keen

Tri2012 said:

I had  shareplans with my employer, bank which were a total fail following 2008 crash and covid.

What kind of share plan?  For those shares acquired under a "share incentive plan", including dividend shares, the price you paid for the shares has no influence on the your capital gain or loss.  Instead, it is the value of the shares when they came out of the SIP trust that matters. 

If you:
- took them out of the SIP trust and sold them straightaway, there would not be a capital gain or capital loss. 

- resigned / retired then shares will come out of the SIP trust shortly after (may be days / a month later bit because of admin delays) and the base cost will be the value when they come out.  

If your colleagues took the shares and out of the SIP trust (or resigned/retired) and sold them straightaway they would never have a capital gain or loss and so no reporting would be required (unless disposal proceeds were high enough to be required to report them - £50,000 now but in the old days it was 4x annual CGT exemption).

SAYE (also called sharesave) is different and the base cost is the exercise price you paid.