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Realise capital gain before repatriating to the UK?

Practical Issues
DiamondEcho
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Realise capital gain before repatriating to the UK?

#149454

Postby DiamondEcho » July 2nd, 2018, 12:06 pm

I'm due to repatriate to the UK in 4 weeks after an absence of over 10 years. During my absence I progressively sold UK investment property and built a UK share portfolio, intended to provide long-term mostly passive income for our retirement.
Something I've pondered a couple of times of late is unrealised capital gains. One of my shares is showing a 6-figure unrealised profit. The others in the portfolio are either showing modest losses or modest gains.
Due to where I live and my residence status I am not liable to local tax, and neither am I liable to report my portfolio income to the UK-IR.

Would it make sense for me to rebase the gain on this one share position before returning to the UK, and would that side-step a future liability to CGT [assuming it's share px holds etc]? I understand that there is a 30-day rule that applies to stop 'bed and breakfasting' positions for tax purposes, fair enough, I could decide not to repurchase the position unless I choose to after returning to the UK.
I have spent very little time in the UK these past ten years so am well clear of the threshold to have accidentally become resident/liable for UK tax whilst away.

It's quite a big position, the stamp duty on purchase [Nov-17] was circa £3k+. But that might be modest compared to any CGT liability if later sold after UK residence is re-established.

I'm trying to avoid selling to (likely) repurchase later if for some reason there is no need to. But I'm also trying to avoid later being told 'Are you mad!!? You should have realised that gain before you resumed liability for UK tax!!'

Thoughts welcome :?

This question came to mind again today faster reading an article in the Telegraph re: taxes and returning expats. Specifically [my bold]:
'If you have UK domicile, returning to the UK means that you will be taxed on your total worldwide income. So, depending on the tax rate you currently pay, it may be appropriate to close overseas bank accounts to trigger income receipts before you come back so that it is not taxable in the UK. It is also worth checking whether it is tax-efficient to crystallise capital gains by selling assets before you return, which may also make reporting the gains more straight forward.'
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consu ... ccountant/

BBLSP1
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Re: Realise capital gain before repatriating to the UK?

#149480

Postby BBLSP1 » July 2nd, 2018, 1:09 pm

Hi DE,

Some of the posts on this thread, including one by me, discuss the issue.

https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=77&t=10891&p=128880#p128880


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