Capital Gains Tax on Overseas Shares

Practical Issues
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jaizan
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Joined: September 1st, 2018, 10:21 pm

Capital Gains Tax on Overseas Shares

Post by jaizan »

I have bought and sold some shares listed in Singapore, but in USD & from a Singapore trading account.

So the share price is in USD, but I actually pay and receive the money in SGD, with modest exchange rate losses. Singapore brokers are not quite as greedy as their UK counterparts.

Am I correct in presuming the capital gains tax should be a NET calculation based on what I pay & receive ?
Therefore I take the SGD amount and convert to GBP using the HMRC SGD-GBP exchange rates for the applicable month?

[Note: I'm NOT interested in any reply that involves using a paid for tax advisor, as it would be cheaper to take the most pessimistic assumption and leave a fraction more of my annual CGT allowance un-utilized]

1nvest
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Joined: May 31st, 2019, 7:55 pm

Re: Capital Gains Tax on Overseas Shares

Post by 1nvest »

jaizan wrote:Am I correct in presuming the capital gains tax should be a NET calculation based on what I pay & receive ? Therefore I take the SGD amount and convert to GBP using the HMRC SGD-GBP exchange rates for the applicable month?
Just saying thanks, as I wasn't aware of a official HMRC currency conversion rate. I've done similar, calculated on actuals and converted (in my case from US$) to £ using the ongoing rate at the time of being paid/received. But I can't say for sure whether that's the correct way or not.

SalvorHardin
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Joined: November 4th, 2016, 10:32 am

Re: Capital Gains Tax on Overseas Shares

Post by SalvorHardin »

1nvest wrote:Just saying thanks, as I wasn't aware of a official HMRC currency conversion rate. I've done similar, calculated on actuals and converted (in my case from US$) to £ using the ongoing rate at the time of being paid/received. But I can't say for sure whether that's the correct way or not.
The official rate is recommended, but it isn't compulsory.

I use the current rate at the time of sale or purchase (I've only needed it for share deals). I've never had any comeback from HMRC.

As to the jaizan's question, it's the net proceeds and costs in sterling that are used for CGT with HMRC. So you should convert SGD amounts to sterling

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