How to calculate CGT on unsheltered OEIC dividends (accumulation units)?

[abbeymeadster]

Hello All,

In 2013 I purchased some unsheltered OEIC units (acc). I've bought and sold bits and bobs over the years, but never had to be concerned about dividend tax or CGT until now because the amounts were below the tax-free allowances.

Now that the allowances have reduced, I can see that I owe HMRC some dividend tax for 23/24. I've never needed to do a self-assessment return, so am planning to simply send them my calculation and a cheque

I always thought that accumulation units worked like scrip dividends i.e. that more units were allocated, but looking at the figures it seems that this hasn't been happening. I assume the dividend has been rolled into the value of each unit. In which case, when I next sell am I supposed to adjust the purchase price I paid in 2013 by each "dividend" received since then to check for CGT liability? I'm a bit bamboozled, not least because the platform I use only has 5 years of transactions on it, so going back 11 years will be a challenge!

[tacpot12]

This link might help you: https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... s-tax-2022

You will need to ask your platform for the data if you don't have it, but you might consider whether you were emailed any contract notes for the purchases and sales?

[Alaric]

In which case, when I next sell am I supposed to adjust the purchase price I paid in 2013 by each "dividend" received since then to check for CGT liability? :

You add back the dividends to the original purchase price(s). If you don't do this, you err on the side of increasing your potential CGT liability.

[abbeymeadster]

Thank you both, that's very helpful.

Looks like I will need to keep much more accurate records from now on! I guess lots of people are in the same boat now that tax-free allowances have been pared right back.

[MuddyBoots]

Does your fund manager's website provide reports for CG and the like? I'm with Fidelity and it provides a menu of reports including realised & unrealised capital gains, income etc. It's a bit confusing to me because there's a 30 day rule and a pool which I don't understand (can anyone enlighten me?). But it showed me a CGT liability for last year which I've reported to HMRC via the real time service to save a full self-assessment.

On a bit of a tangent, now that the CG allowance has dropped to only £3k, I'll be looking for a more predictive report towards the end of this tax year, to sell up some unsheltered units for transfer into next year's ISA allowance. I'm trying to decide if I'm better selling up enough for the full ISA allowance and potentially pay CGT on the sale (fingers crossed the markets go up enough); or just sell sufficient to use my CGT allowance and miss out on my ISA allowance. (Hope that makes sense).