Questions on buying and selling shares

I want to buy some shares. I have some idea of how the process works which is as follows, can someone say whether this is correct please.

I buy 10k worth of shares in a particular company and sell them for 20k. I have 10k profit, theres 20% cgt owed on any profit (over my allowance of 1270) due that year which I have to pay by the end of october which I declare as extra income to revenue.

If I also buy another 10k of another type of share but make a loss in the same year I can write that off against the other shares profit.

If I dont sell the shares I havent made a profit or loss. Current value doesnt mean anything for tax purposes.

If I sold 10k the shares for 20k but then decided to buy more shares with that 20k, I still owe CGT on the profit I made that year.

Can I write trading expenses off against profit?


thanks. Ive looked at the key posts and continue to do so.

use spread betting .no CGT or broker fees

limerickboy1 said:

use spread betting

Click to expand...

Do you not think it's a bit reckless advising a first time investor to use a leveraged method such as spread betting?
If going this route the OP would be advised to read:
http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=94255

limerickboy1 said:

use spread betting .no CGT or broker fees

Click to expand...

Limerickboy1 would you mind explaining to a lay person and non expert like me how one could go about using spread betting as opposed to say buying and owning an index tracker ETF and holding it for a minimum of a 5 year time frame (not trading them) while keeping the risks associated with leverage to an absolute minimum (e.g. losing money you have with an ETF you have paid for is one thing, but losing money you don't have with spread betting is all together another).

I've never considered spread betting as an investing medium as my impression (maybe completely wrong) is that it is more suitable for speculators, frequent traders or experts who can spend a lot of their time montioring their positions as opposed to long term investors who may only look at their portfolio once a week/month/year!

Andrea, your assumptions all look correct to me. Don't forget also that if you sell shares at a loss, you can carry the loss forward into future years if you've insufficient profits to write it off against in the current year.

The Oct 31 deadline is for tax payable on share gains between Jan 1 and Sept 30 of that year. CGT on disposals in Oct-Dec are payable by January 31 of the following year.

Costs and fees associated with acquiring and disposing of shares are generally deductible against profit, yes.

If you are buying/selling shares in another currency (e.g. US$) do you include the exchange profit/loss as part of your overall prit/loss for CGT purposes or just disregard.

As far as reporting (and paying) CGT to the Revenue, do you just add the details to your Form 11 and send them a cheque?

Thanks in advance.

P.S. Only realised now that CGT went to 22%; another mistake by the government imo along with the DIRT increase....who are these guys listening to?

extopia said:

Andrea, your assumptions all look correct to me. Don't forget also that if you sell shares at a loss, you can carry the loss forward into future years if you've insufficient profits to write it off against in the current year.

The Oct 31 deadline is for tax payable on share gains between Jan 1 and Sept 30 of that year. CGT on disposals in Oct-Dec are payable by January 31 of the following year.

Costs and fees associated with acquiring and disposing of shares are generally deductible against profit, yes.

Click to expand...