Quote Originally Posted by minimoke View Post
No you wont get a credit for losses - this is about collecting tax off the wealthy, you would not want to disadvantage those that make bad decisions by giving them credits they couldn't use.

A coin collector would pay CGT on any gain as he isn't in the business of trading coins. A coin dealer would pay tax on profits made.
If CGT was treated simply as income without a separate tax rate, then it wouldn't make any difference. Both the collector and the dealer would pay tax at their marginal rate. That's an important point in designing a workable CGT, and stops the definition argument in its tracks, provided the collector can deduct his losses as the dealer would; and it's ridiculous to tax gains and not credit losses.