pissed at paying cgt when I took a risk to invest my money

[pettywitchinlondon]

I've got quite a large tax bill to come as some of my investments have done very well. I don't mind paying tax usually, but I'm a bit pissed at this as I had to take a huge risk with money I've already paid tax on and if I lost it all the government wouldn't bail me out.

Dear god, you do lead an eventful life OP.

Well othe, most people just seam to say on this thread individual's should avoid taxes...

Exactly Mistigri.
If the 'jealousy' comment was for me - no, I'm a high earning tax professional well aware of how rich I am because I volunteer helping people on low incomes & low assets with complex tax affairs complete their returns / deal with HMRC.
Low income being under £13k, low assets being under £30k (no room for property ownership there).
Complex taxes being some benefits are taxed some aren't; the proper application of WTC when working multiple jobs; tax codes to be applied to multiple employments; whether your 0hr contract is taxed effectively; whether the tax code on your pension is right because you're so poor you're still having to work at 70 etc.
We get jokers all the time trying for some free advice because 'I'm hardly rich! Just because I own a house and got a windfall on some shares!'
We also have vulnerable people queuing out the door because there aren't enough of us to help. This is people for whom HMRC getting it wrong and taking £50 too much means they seriously suffer.
You are rich, OP. Open your eyes.

I agree, let's get real here! Having the level of spare cash to risk on the stock market to the point you pay cgt qualifies you as rich when compared to the majority. And again, you are not being taxed multiple times, you are being taxed on the unearned profit,not your original investment.

Yes let's get real. Having money to invest doesn't make someone rich. I'm not by any means rich, I have a well paid job but I have zero pension and I'm trying to provide for my future. As I've said I only have money to invest as I've been very frugal, I'm 800 car I've had for years, my phone is 3 years old and my holidays are budget affairs . whereas other people with a similar income as me buy 20k cars, new phone and fancy holidays. I'm not saying I'm as poor as a single person on nmw but I'm far far from rich. I only have money to invest as I'm frugal with my above average earnings. I'm freelance also so its part of life to have savings as you never know how long it will be between jobs.

Seeing as a fireman has a pension equivalent to half a million in the private sector my small 5 figure sum I'm investing to get a pension does not make me rich.

Private sector fireman?

"Small 5 figure sum" = what world do you live in?

at "small five figure sum"

Mow we've just had the swipe at public service pensions (fireman) I expect we'll see an attack on baby boomers if the OP runs true to form. I've not seen an AIBU thread by her yet where she actually accepts she might BU.

Still think that if people want to set such store by investment they should get proper advice.

Cheese - I said equivalent.

Well done on missing the obvious point though, no one points to someone at says they are rich as they have 60k in their pension pot. In terms of pension pots after 20 years Ni your actually poor with a pot like that.

I don't think you know as much about typical pensions as you think you do.

Get some financial advice if you're pissed off about paying tax on your investment.
And whether you like it or not you are well off in comparison to many.

I agree that CGT and IHT are unfair taxes but that is not a popular view on here.

I think taxes should be paid and I think that the current system is skewed so that "small people" get disproportionately taxed, (VAT, Income Tax, Council Tax,) and that anyone who has a chance to get out of the being moderately poor bracket is penalised. A capital gain from an investment, a lucky inheritance from parents who saved/worked/were lucky, taxed heavily.

Small businesses are also disproportionately taxed. Big business and billionaires somehow seem to avaid paying anything like the sort of proportionate tax that small ones do. A business or billionaire that made the sort of gain that OP is likely talking about would probably not pay any tax at all.

Apart from the fact I never mentioned typical pension pots, I know very well most people not at retirment level now are poor in terms of pension, unless you have something like a full fireman pension hence why I referenced it.

Do people think that hiring an advisor automatically means that small time investors can automatically reduce their tax bill to zero or something?

I don't think cgt is unfair. Maybe the rates are but not the principle.

When you have a heart attack and the NHS has to save you, think that your taxes help contribute.

There are only two certainties in life if I remember correctly - death and taxes

Do people think that hiring an advisor automatically means that small time investors can automatically reduce their tax bill to zero or something?

Seems that way......one of life's popular (and woefully ignorant) misconceptions.

It's 28% if you are a high rate tax payer, or the gain is sufficient to push you into this?

I also do not understand the correlation between attitude to risk and why this should have a bearing on the tax paid?

Why did you realise so much gain in one tax year? Why did you not spread and realise the gain over a number of tax years? You are allowed £11,100 of gains this tax year alone.

Did you not employ the services of a financial planner? Or are they too costly, hence you now end up with a huge bill?

It does sound like a massive stealth boast TBH!

You'll never get any sympathy from the MN Envy Crowd.

To them you're in the same league as Bastard Bankers & it's your fault the country is "in a state" and you should spend all your money on a tanker of baked beans to fill up the local food bank.....

God help anyone who has the wherewithal to do well for themselves....

No I would have thought an adviser would ensure her investments were wisely handled during the year and educate her so that she realised she's whinging unjustifiably.

BMW6,

"Seems that way......one of life's popular (and woefully ignorant) misconceptions"

I think they add value and certainly can mitigate tax issues like this. The only reason you would need to have a massive CGT tax bill, is the immediate need for cash, or a massive change in investment strategy was needed. Otherwise, careful planning using all available tax wrappers, not just piling everything into collectives can be used.

Investment within a bond, allows tax deferment until such time as OP was a basic rate tax payer, then surrender would potentially mean no tax liability.

Lots can be done, with the correct advice.

*You'll never get any sympathy from the MN Envy Crowd.

To them you're in the same league as Bastard Bankers & it's your fault the country is "in a state" and you should spend all your money on a tanker of baked beans to fill up the local food bank.....

God help anyone who has the wherewithal to do well for themselves....*

I think your spot on.

Do people think that hiring an advisor automatically means that small time investors can automatically reduce their tax bill to zero or something?

Yes most people are that ignorant to think that and are happy to pass judgement on something they only have a small slice of information.

Why didn't you use a pension wrapper for your investments if it's your pension? Plenty of private pensions around where you can choose your investments.

If the gains are crystallising simply because you are churning your investments you should probably be using a wrapper and you could do with some basic IFA advice.

If, on the other hand, you are realising the money now because you want access to it now then it's a little more complex than saving for your pension isn't it?

Oh and hiring an advisor doesn't automatically zero out your tax bill but they will point out easy and non-'fraudulent' ways to reduce the bill if it really is a case of it all unfairly crystallising in one tax year.