HMRC netted a record CGT tax take in 2021/22 tax year. A total of £16.7 billion was paid in CGT, with the number of taxpayers growing 20% to almost 400,000.
Increase is partly down to landlords exiting the market. The CGT allowance is set to be slashed from £12,300 last year, down to just £3,000 by 2024/25.
AJ Bell head of investment analysis, Laith Khalaf, says: “Taxpayers are forking out record amounts of CGT, according to latest figures from HMRC. The number of people paying capital gains tax has more than doubled in the last decade, and is set to explode in coming years as the capital gains tax allowance is slashed from £12,300 to £3,000.
“CGT has often been characterised as a rich person’s tax, with some justification seeing as you used to be able to make £12,300 of gains each year before the taxman asked for any dues. However now the allowance is being cut to £3,000, the net is going to be cast a lot wider, and more small shareholders are going to find themselves trapped in it.
“The easiest way to avoid paying capital gains tax on your shareholdings is to hold them in an ISA, though clearly this isn’t possible if the asset you’re investing in is a property, on which you will also face an extra 8% capital gains tax surcharge on any profits you do make.”
