Capital Loss Realisation

Hello and thanks in advance for your help, Please can I get clarification on this. If I sold a shares at (big) loss on 30th March 2022 in my share dealing account and repurchased in my ISA account on 6th April 2023, am I able to report this as a capital loss to HMRC for the previous year? Or because these transactions are within 30 days of each other, despite being separate accounts (share dealing vs ISA), is this not a loss I can claim? Thanks

Hi,

Please refer to guidance at:

How you work out the gain under the ‘bed and breakfasting’ rule

Thank you.

Thanks for the link - I can't see that it differentiates between accounts. My friend believes if he sells in share dealing account then buys back in ISA within 30 days he CAN record a share dealing account loss since the two are separate accounts. However I think it is regardless of account, so the loss cannot be claimed. Which is correct? Thank you

Hi
The disposal of the shares is a disposal and the gain or loss should be reported as with any disposal.
The purchase of the same shares within the ISA does not trigger the 30 day rule, in order for this to apply the shares must be acquired by the same person in the same capacity.
When the share are purchased in the ISA they are purchased by the ISA manager not the individual.
Investments held by an investor outside an ISA can be sold, and the proceeds subscribed to an ISA.
Investors and ISA managers should note that the sale of the investments is a disposal for capital gains purposes.
The ISA subscription can be used to buy back the same investments within the ISA provided certain conditions are met.
This is a ‘Share Exchange’ (sometimes called ‘Bed and ISAing’).
For any acquisition of investments in an ISA, the conditions that must be satisfied are as follows:
the investments must not be purchased from the investor, or from the investor’s spouse or civil partner
the investments must be bought at the open market price
any stamp duty or stamp duty reserve tax paid on the purchase of the ISA investments must be paid out of cash held in the ISA
where sale and purchase instructions are given on the same day, the funds generated by the disposal of the investor’s shares must be available to meet the purchase on settlement day.
Thankyou.

Thank you for the detailed reply. I presently do not fill out tax returns and wish to claim losses going back 4 years. Is it possible to do this in writing by submitting my share trade spreadsheets to HMRC in writing? I have no other reason to register for self-assessment and would prefer not to. Thank you

Hi ClueLess1 ClueLess2,
Yes you can send in a letter with the calulations and if you are looking to use them now, confirm the year (s) to be utilised.
Thank you 

This is great news, thank you. And to complete my questions (so sorry...) if I were to make a capital gain this year but said gain is covered by the losses from previous years, I need to specifically write to HMRC to notify them of this? E.g. if I carry forward £50k losses and make a gain of £30k this year, I initially write to HMRC to notify of the £50k loss. But I do/do not write to HMRC re the £30k gain which reduces my loss going forward to 20k. And I can do all of this via writing without having to register for self assessment?

Hi,
You need to notify HMRC of the losses within 4 years of them arising and this van be in a letter.
If you were to use them, this needs to be on a tax return so you would still need to register for self assessment.
Thank you.