What You'll Actually Owe
A plain-English guide to capital gains tax on land, shares, and long-held assets.
Work out on paper roughly how a capital gain is calculated and taxed: what counts as your cost, what counts as your proceeds, why the rate depends on your other income, and which timing choices move the number, so you can sanity-check an adviser's figure.
Not sure yet? Read the free version first.
What’s inside
- The core formula: proceeds minus basis, and where both go wrong
- Building an accurate cost basis for an asset bought decades ago
- Why the holding period changes everything
- Selling off part of your land: how cost is apportioned
- Selling shares: lots, averaging, and the wash-sale trap
- Why the same gain is taxed differently in a low-income year
- The knock-on effects: healthcare premiums, benefits, surcharges
- Losses, carryforwards, and a worked estimate for land and shares
Who it’s for
Financially comfortable non-specialists, landowners, retirees and long-term investors, contemplating or just having made a significant sale, who want to understand how the tax on that gain is calculated before they talk to an accountant.
Important: This guide is general educational information, not personalised financial, tax or legal advice, and does not account for your individual circumstances. Rules, rates and thresholds change. Before acting, confirm the current position and consult a suitably qualified professional.