How to use it
- 1Use one copy of the worksheet per holding: one company and one class of share.
- 2Enter each purchase and sale in date order, with the number of shares, the total paid or received and the dealing costs.
- 3Before entering a sale, check the matching rules. Shares bought on the same day, then in the 30 days after the sale, are matched to it first and stay out of the pool.
- 4Leave those matched purchases out of the pool and work out their gain separately: proceeds less the cost of the matched shares.
- 5The gains and losses for the tax year go on the Capital Gains Tax pages of your return.
What each field means
- Buy or sell
- Whether shares came into or left the holding.
- Number of shares
- Always positive. The type sets the direction.
- Amount paid or received
- The total price before dealing costs, not the price per share.
- Dealing costs
- Broker fees and stamp duty on the transaction.
- Shares in pool after
- The holding after this row.
- Pool cost before and after
- The holding's pooled cost either side of the row.
- Allowable cost of shares sold
- Pool cost × shares sold ÷ shares held before the sale.
- Gain or loss
- Proceeds less dealing costs less the allowable cost.
The matching order
HMRC helpsheet HS284 sets the order in which shares sold are matched with shares bought. First, shares bought on the same day as the sale. Second, shares bought in the 30 days after the sale (the bed and breakfasting rule), if you were UK resident when you bought them. Third, shares in the Section 104 holding.
A sale matched under the 30-day rule has a gain equal to the net proceeds less the cost of the shares bought back. Only what's left after the first two rules comes out of the pool.
How the pool works
Each share in a Section 104 holding is treated as bought at the same average cost. GOV.UK's example: 100 shares bought, then 300 more, give 400 shares at their combined cost, and a sale of 150 takes 150 times the average cost.
Your total gains for the tax year, after losses, are taxed only above the £3,000 annual exempt amount. Shares in an ISA are outside Capital Gains Tax and don't belong in the pool.
Licence and disclaimer
Free to use, copy and adapt for your own business or personal records. Please don't resell it or republish it as your own template.
A template is a starting point, not advice for your circumstances. Check the result against the GOV.UK guidance linked below, or ask an accountant.
Related
What else will you need?
- TemplateCrypto transaction logA crypto transaction log records every time you acquire or dispose of tokens, in pounds, with the tokens held and the pooled cost before and after each disposal.Excel
- SA108SA108 capital gains pagesSA108 is the capital gains summary in the Self Assessment return.
- SA100SA100 tax returnThe SA100 is HMRC's main Self Assessment tax return.
- ChecklistSelf Assessment documents checklistBefore you file a Self Assessment return, gather your UTR and National Insurance number, your Government Gateway sign-in, any P60, P45 or P11D, your business and rental income and expense records, interest and dividend statements, details of anything you sold that may have made a gain, and records of pension contributions and Gift Aid.PDF
Rather we did it?
Countify can handle this for you, for a fixed fee agreed upfront.
Questions
Frequently asked questions.
Do dealing costs reduce my gain?
Yes. Costs of buying are added to the pool, and costs of selling come off the proceeds. Enter both in the Dealing costs column and the worksheet places them correctly.
What about bonus issues and rights issues?
HS284 explains that share reorganisations such as rights and bonus issues usually aren't treated as new acquisitions. They change the pool in ways this worksheet doesn't model, so get advice.
Can I use the worksheet for crypto?
The pooling is the same, but tokens are pooled per type. The crypto transaction log keeps a pool for each token in one sheet.
Checked against GOV.UK on · Reviewed by Kamran Ishaq FCCA, Founder & CEO, on .
Sources: Shares and Capital Gains Tax (helpsheet HS284) (opens in a new tab) (HM Revenue & Customs); Tax when you sell shares: selling shares in the same company (opens in a new tab) (HM Revenue & Customs); Capital Gains Tax (opens in a new tab) (HM Revenue & Customs).