tax treatment of share sales before/after April 6th

[Merguez]

I have also posted the same question over on the Investments board ....

I have a small amount of shares (current value around £2.5k) which are a legacy from a previous employee share scheme - I've had these shares for over 11 years.

They have never performed particularly well and I want to get rid of them to streamline my finances (particularly as the company I used to work for was taken over and they are now denominated in a different currency).

Does anyone know if it will make a difference to my tax position if I sell before or after the end of the tax year? Have just gone from being employed to self-employed (after redundancy) if that makes a difference.

I just want to do it while I'm thinking about it - but did wonder if it would make a difference if I wait until Monday. (Of course the share price might change, but willing to take that risk if the tax position is different.)

Many thanks!

It depends on the share scheme but I'm assuming that as you're no longer working for the employer then you are holding the shares outright.

That means that you will pay capital gains tax on the sale. this is calculated as a percentage of the difference between the sale proceeds and the original cost. However, the first ?10,600 of these gains in a tax year are not taxable. If the value of your shares is only ?2,500 it's likely that none of the proceeds will become taxable, provided you haven't sold any other capital assets in the past 12 months

Oops. Question marks are supposed to be pound signs

Thanks riksti, very helpful