kevin mcbride

Hello. I too have often wondered why they don't explain what an 'election' is! As I now understand it, (and I am very much NOT an expert) a claim is the usual procedure for the sort of thing which you describe, where you are talking about specific amounts of money to be set against tax, for example. An election is a statement which alters the basis on which the tax calculation is made, for example you might elect to be treated as non- domicile, or something like that.

I want to calculate if I have enough income tax liability to get full relief for EIS. Calculating income tax is easy enough but I wonder if I am supposed to subtract 25% of my Gift aid payments from the final figure, as this amount is presumably removed from my tax payments?

Yes, thanks, but that is my point. How do I notify you of which losses to carry forward, unless I amend the previous year's return?

Thank you. Will you notify me of the losses available to carry forward? And please confirm that I do not have to amend my previous year tax return.

Thank you - but you haven't answered my question. What about the carry forward of the 'spare' losses, which now would not have any gains to set agains?

I have bought EIS and SEIS this year and wish to carry back to last year, and defer my capital gains. Last year I had balanced gains and losses. If I now carry back and defer those gains, it will leave me with 'orphaned' losses not set against any gains. ( I have been assured privately that I can carry forward the GROSS gains, and I do not have to net out first against losses) . What are the actual steps in reporting and claiming this carry forward of both gains and losses? If I do this it will effectively mean that last year's return is now inaccurate - do I apply to amend last year's return? If not how does the information get updated?

Regarding VCTs and the 5 year rule regarding disposal and the loss of income tax relief, I wish to know if this applies to shares purchased automatically under dividend investment schemes - does each such incremental purchase have to wait 5 years separately, or are they identified with the original purchase for this purpose? I assume the latter.

Thank you yes, I have read HS343 before. It does not mention the situation where there is an overall interest loss, rather it says "If the result is a loss, you should ‘subtract’ this amount from the total gross interest you enter in box 3. ", which suggests that it is expected that the accrued interest is always smaller than the received interest. I very much doubt that the legislation says that one has to pay tax on interest which has not been received! I think it is an oversight of the HMRC site programmers, and I think it should be looked at again

Hello. I am NOT talking about deeply discounted securities. I am referring to ordinary gilts - please can you answer my question above, namely, why is it not possible to offset losses on gilt interest incurred by accrued interest exceeding received interest for the year?

When entering the details of interest earned from gilts the online self assessment form will not accept a negative figure. This occurs when the year end occurs before any interest has been received, therefore subtracting the accrued interest from the 'received' figure should be a negative - but the form will not allow it!. Therefore it seems that one has to pay more tax than is due, simply because the form is incorrect! Surely the accrued interest excess under these circumstances should be allowable to set off against other income?