Tax Question

[winner69]

........... habitual traders. In practice the IRD has been pretty slack in applying the rules.

Studies have also shown that 95% of traders lose so maybe the IRD have taken the holistic view that it would cost them money to subsidise losers

Spose that fact is true or why else would somebody wrire a book called 'Winning the Trading Game: Why 95% of Traders Lose and What You Must Do To Win'

[Rif-Raf]

Why not? I am not aware of any countries with a CGT that allow an inflation adjustment.

Studies have shown that countries with a CGT levelling the 'investment' playing field are better off as it takes away the investment distortion of a preference 'non-productive' investment such as residential property in the expectation of a tax-free gain over more 'productive' investments.

When i lived in the UK in the late 80's CGT gains were calcuated after CPI adjustments.Makes sense, but meant the computation was very messy.

[Rif-Raf]

So frequency of trading starts to form a pattern, your intention at time of purchase comes into it.
If you bought with intention of holding - but then unforeseen need to sell arises, might eliminate tax. (you can be too honest). So professional advice, write down your intention every time you buy and sell, forget about a few things, use your imagination (AKA lying) But it is like asking how long is a piece of string; except string can be measured, but taxable income from investments? No two answers will ever be the same, including answers from IRD.

I've always thought it would be a good idea if Direct Broking put in a comments field againsttrades so you could insert notes relevant for tax purposes which are stored against in the most convenient place.

[CJ]

Why not? I am not aware of any countries with a CGT that allow an inflation adjustment.

I thought the UK did indexing?

Newbie - are you buying for dividend income or are you buying for short term growth (3-4 months suggests this one). The grey area is where people invest for long term growth (ie. 5 years +) - technically this should be taxable but very few would admit it.

Once you have determined that, what you actual do becomes irrelevant (though actions may speak louder than words as to what your real intention is). that is, you buy a share for dividend yeild but then decide to sell after 3 months because you think another share has a better long term (dividend) prospect - this would be a treated as a long term hold even though you only held it for 3 months.

Confussed?

[newbietrader]

"Newbie - are you buying for dividend income or are you buying for short term growth (3-4 months suggests this one). The grey area is where people invest for long term growth (ie. 5 years +) - technically this should be taxable but very few would admit it."

I hold long on a few shares (gas+oil) for dividend income..and i sell copper related share (after holding 3 months) after receiving news about copper price dropping, hence changing portfolio to gas+oil (to hold long term)...does this consider trading? thx

[CJ]

"Newbie - are you buying for dividend income or are you buying for short term growth (3-4 months suggests this one). The grey area is where people invest for long term growth (ie. 5 years +) - technically this should be taxable but very few would admit it."

I hold long on a few shares (gas+oil) for dividend income..and i sell copper related share (after holding 3 months) after receiving news about copper price dropping, hence changing portfolio to gas+oil (to hold long term)...does this consider trading? thx

That should just be classed as a review of a long term portfolio so shouldn't be an issue.

Think about perceptions though as this is what an IRD auditor will start with. If someone asked for a list of all you buys and sells, would they think you are trading or holding long term. If the later, the IRD auditor will probably move on. If the first, then they will investigate further.