We explain capital gains tax on shares in plain English, handle it correctly, and make sure you claim every relief you are entitled to, all at a fixed fee.
Capital Gains Tax on Shares
Selling shares, funds or other investments held outside an ISA can trigger Capital Gains Tax on your profit above the annual exempt amount, and with that allowance now just £3,000, far more investors are caught.
We calculate the gain on your share and fund disposals correctly, apply the share-matching rules, offset losses, use your annual exempt amount, and report it properly, so you pay the right Capital Gains Tax and no more.
The capital gains annual exempt amount has fallen to £3,000, so investors who never used to pay CGT on share sales now do, making accurate calculation, loss offsetting and using two spouses' allowances more valuable than ever.
The Detail That Matters
Selling shares or funds held outside an ISA can trigger Capital Gains Tax on the profit above the £3,000 annual exemption. The share-matching rules decide exactly which shares you sold and at what cost, and getting them wrong is the commonest error in this area.
You cannot simply pick which shares you sold. HMRC matches disposals first to shares bought the same day, then to shares bought in the next 30 days, then to the section 104 pool of everything else at its averaged cost. These rules stop investors crystallising a loss and buying straight back in.
Gains above the £3,000 exemption are taxed at 18% or 24% depending on your income band, with the gain sitting on top of your income to decide the rate. A large gain can therefore be taxed partly at each rate in the same year.
You can sell holdings and rebuy them inside an ISA (bed and ISA) to shelter future gains and income, using your annual exemption on the way. Losses on other shares, current-year or carried forward, are set against gains first, and a loss must be claimed to be usable later.
Transferring shares to a spouse before sale is tax-free and gives the couple two £3,000 exemptions and potentially a second basic-rate band. Spreading a large disposal across two tax years uses two years' exemptions. These steps are simple and legitimate.
With the exemption cut to £3,000, investors who never used to pay CGT now do, and many miscalculate the gain by ignoring the pooling rules or forgetting to claim prior-year losses that would have wiped the bill out.
Key Figures
How We Help
We work out your gain using the share-matching and pooling rules, which are easy to get wrong, so your CGT is calculated correctly.
We offset losses on other investments against your gains, and carry losses forward, to reduce the tax you pay.
Transferring shares to a spouse before sale can use two £3,000 allowances. We plan disposals to use every allowance available.
All the forms, calculations and correspondence handled on your behalf, so you never have to decode HMRC's rules or sit on hold.
A clear fixed fee quoted after a free call, your position explained in plain English, and never a surprise bill.
We act quickly, and where earlier years are involved we put those right too, reclaiming refunds or minimising penalties.
With the CGT allowance slashed to £3,000, share investors are caught far more often, and the share-matching rules make accurate calculation essential. We get it right, offset losses, and use every allowance.
Recent Client Outcome
An investor sold a large shareholding sitting on a £28,000 gain and expected to pay 24% on almost all of it after the £3,000 exemption.
What we did. We calculated the gain correctly using the section 104 pool, brought in £7,000 of losses carried forward from a prior year that had been claimed but never used, transferred part of the holding to their spouse before sale for a second £3,000 exemption, and spread the disposal across two tax years.
The outcome. Between the pooled cost, the carried losses, two years of exemptions and a second person's band, the taxable gain and rate fell sharply, cutting the CGT by well over £3,000 against their original estimate.
The reliefs and allowances were all available to them, but only realised because the disposal was calculated and timed properly.
Why People Come to Us
Questions Answered
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