Hi there, newbie here too. If my gain/ profit show in the app is current up 13k pounds, but I have not sold any of my stocks/ not closing any of my position.
Do i still need to delcare to HMRC?
From what I have read, I think there is no need for that, although I am in profit but I have not sold any?
Many thanks all.
your profits arenāt real until you sell, so you are fine.
In that case it may be useful if you explore that point further. If you were missing out on CGT benefits you may be able to amend your returns.
Thank you! much appericated!
itās absolutely worth making sure you can take full benefit of your yearly allowance, so best keep that in mind when deciding to realise or not.
Downloaded my transactions (thanks @trader787 ) and my profit from shares bought and sold currently sits at Ā£150k since April 2020, so looks like Iāll be in the highest income tax bracket of 45%?
Not sure how Iāll be taxed thoughā¦ Will it be income tax or capital gains tax??
@kali why CGT and not income tax?
cool. I hope your ISA is full otherwise thatās a big tax bill that could have been avoided.
I wouldnāt ask anyone here how much tax you should pay, especially if it is a substantial amount. There is only one person responsible for that and itās yourself. You will be liable if it is wrong not anyone else.
click the link Kali gave earlier to HMRC website and read about capital gains. DYOR read it all and understand it all, and any questions you should call them and talk to a tax advisor.
ps. I have not heard of this income tax rule under 1 year at all, only capital gains tax, if we are to believe it then it should be written on the gov website somewhere and I canāt see any reference unless itās some tax dodge trick or outdated. Lots of information online is outdated (or they refer to other countries for instance) and things change so thatās why itās best to speak to them if any questions.
From HMRC:
āCapital Gains Tax is a tax on the profit when you sell (or ādispose ofā) something (an āassetā) thatās increased in value.ā
So stocks being an asset that is why it applies in simple terms. I am guessing some people may create a company for trading if they do it enough in which case there might be ways to pay yourself an āincomeā from the profits, so guessing similar to the Corporation Tax/Dividend Tax way LTD company dirctors pay themselves.
Thanks @trader787 and everyone else who has chimed in, appreciate you taking the time to reply and give your advice.
No ISA for me, just a big tax bill LOL! Using the HMRC tax calulator, it looks like itāll be around Ā£26kā¦ 
I read about the 1 year tax rule during a Google search, but i think this may just be for out friends over the pond?
@Hbomb I will be looking to trade full time if things keep going as they are, so a Ltd company may be the best route in order to have an income.?
Cheers,
Paul
I have no idea mate, I only know about ānormalā businesses as Ltd companies where you sell a product or service to a client who you invoice, not sure how trading works within that structure. I know some property investors with like 1-3 properties might not have company but if pushing on doing lots more some start to put new properties into a company for tax reasons so assumed may be similar strategies for trading. I would check with your accountant who does your tax returns.
But key question is why you not using an ISA?
TBH, Iāve never really looked into the ISA. If I have 20k in the ISA, can I still withdraw funds from it?
You can but they donāt reduce the amount you have contributed out of the 20k limit
For example, if you deposit 20k then withdraw it, you cannot add anything else to the account until the next tax year because the 20k deposit limit has already been met
Well on everything in an ISA you pay 0% tax, instead of CGT on share sales and dividend tax on dividend payments. Small investors may not pay tax anyway if amounts so small but yours are significant so I would say get using an ISA asap.
As @ryan9921 says you get 20k deposit a year, so if I were you?
Any cash in you invest accounts take it out and put into ISA as no tax implications on that (are on the trades you did to make the cash but no way to reverse now sadly).
Any new money you invest put it into the ISA
Consider (with accountant/advisor) what positions you should/could sell next few weeks that offset your tax burden (tax year ends start of April), ie cement some losses to offset cemented gains.
Any cash from the sale of these ālossesā shift to ISA and if they were losses currently but you think they are great stocks then re-buy in ISA now they are tax free forever more. Or just buy other stocks you prefer.
Do more research as I am not financial advisor nor do I have 100% knowledge as I only do it through ISA anyway, also I have had quite a bit of coffee to keep me alert fr work today 
but you can see that using your 20k allowance up to April 2021, then from the new year starting April 2021 allowance of 20k you could have 40k in an ISA from your significant invest pot.
@Hbomb Thanks for shedding some light on the ISA, all sounds like a no brainer!
So the ISA works much the same as the Invest? You can still buy & sell shares the same way?
What happens if, say for example, i purchase Ā£20k worth of a stock in the ISA and that stock then shoots to the moon and Iām up 100%, so now have Ā£40kā¦ what happens to the extra Ā£20k? Does it just stay in the ISA but i only get taxed on Ā£20k of it? 
Stays in the isa, no tax due
Think of the allowances in terms of deposits only and think of it as a number that only goes up, not down (other than resetting at the start of each tax year).
To give an extreme example, I could top up my isa with Ā£5k and then get lucky, gaining returns to bring my ISA account balance to Ā£100k. I would still have Ā£15k deposit limit remaining for that tax year. If I then decided to withdraw my initial Ā£5k investment, my deposit limit remaining would still be Ā£15k.
Ok, so if you were theoretically up to Ā£100k in the ISA due to having a ripper of a stock, you still wouldnāt have to pay tax on any of it?
Precisely, so think of the compounding, 20k a year and the growth of all that over multiple years. Then your chilling with same fat gains and dividends tax free. Sadly I cant get anywhere near maxing it in a year haha but principle still applies 
Fat gains & zero tax sounds quite appealing 
Ok Iām sold on this one, will buy Ā£20k worth of shares in the ISA and put my feet up 
Roll on tomorrow for the US markets to open.
In all seriousness, thank you @Hbomb @ryan9921 @trader787 @Dao @kali for your help, youāve no doublt saved me some Ā£Ā£Ā£
Hope everyone is good and looking forward to being able to go down the local pubā¦ or even just anywhere atm.