Capital gains tax in the UK

Until the government starts taxing sex, capital gains tax (CGT) is probably the most annoying tax to pay. 1 Capital gains tax is levied on the profits you make when you sell or transfer most assets. These assets include shares, investment properties – even a stake in your own company. Like a maggot in your birthday cake, capital gains tax can really spoil the fun of making money. Inheritance tax is a tax on your good fortune. Income tax is the cost of having a job. But CGT is a tax on investing success. Take cover from CGT where you can! Always try to use ISAs and pensions to shelter your investments from taxes. No tax is payable on gains realised within these wrappers. Of course, you won’t always make a profit when you sell an investment. Sometimes you’ll lose money. That’s called a capital gains loss. Unfortunately you don’t get money back from the government when you lose money. However you can offset your capital losses against your gains to reduce your total taxable gain. You can…