I hear what you say and HMRC will always do what is the most advantageous to them, but sensible rules can be applied, if you are a chartered accountant and as you say earn £50,000 a year but place spread bets as a hobby or in your spare time and make significant sums then logically your day job is you "main source of income" and not the spread betting.
scose-no-doubt
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I said earlier you can argue lower source of income as main if it can cover your lifestyle. Do people not read posts lol.
Shakone
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So in the end, nobody really knows, but the advice is that it is tax-free, and we can't find anyone who has ever been forced to pay tax on their winnings. The best thing to do if spreadbetting is then to pay no tax on your winnings, but keep a large enough % of them so that if there is a new rule about paying taxes on them, you can cover it.
That’s not the summary I would take from this thread, I would say the answer is nobody knows for sure, the advice from Futex Legal, lawyers and members of HMRC, that you can speak to at the call centre, is that it is taxable, if it is you main source of income. However this has not been tested in court but HMRC are aware at looking at the issue and so if you are Spread Trading you may end up with a large bill at some time in the future and maybe a bill going back several years so best to put away the tax saving into a savings account just to be sure.
In the mean time best to add your voice to those writing to MP's and the like to get clarification.
I had a response frpm my MP which confirms what the contact at HMRC said:-
From: [email protected]
To: Parky
Subject: RE: Tax Evasion?
Date: Mon, 16 Jan 2012 17:39:21 +0000
Thank you for your email. I know that HMRC are well aware of this activity and are monitoring it carefully. I can only recommend that if you are worried about potential tax liabilities then it would be foolish to take part while assuming it is tax free. No amount of disclaimers will protect people from HMRC.
Yours sincerely,
Damian Green
From: [email protected]
To: Parky
Subject: RE: Tax Evasion?
Date: Mon, 16 Jan 2012 17:39:21 +0000
Thank you for your email. I know that HMRC are well aware of this activity and are monitoring it carefully. I can only recommend that if you are worried about potential tax liabilities then it would be foolish to take part while assuming it is tax free. No amount of disclaimers will protect people from HMRC.
Yours sincerely,
Damian Green
scose-no-doubt
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Straight from the Tory's mouth.
Imo, this is total rubbish, it has nothing to do with disclaimers. The reason
the HMRC haven't actively pursued SB tax is they know it would open the
flood gates as far as off setting SB losses, that would cost them a fortune
and that is why there is no landmark case.
robster970
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'Politician talks sh1t shocker'.
And they wonder why nobody turns out to vote any more when the quality of candidate is so poor.
And they wonder why nobody turns out to vote any more when the quality of candidate is so poor.
scose-no-doubt
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If it's your sole source of income, losses are already offset. When you do CFD income you take the net PL for your tax return. Jesus Christ I wish people would read threads instead of arguing the same irrelevant horse5hit over and over.
I've read the thread and previously posted you 'pleb', coming from
the 'dinlow' that talks the biggest load of horse5hit on this board
that's rich!!
scose-no-doubt
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Put your handbag down, love. I don't know what a dinlow is as I'm not a c0ck-end but I'll assume it's something inane insult.
If you've read the thread then why are you continuing to echo the same idiotic non-contributory sentiments?
If you've read the thread then why are you continuing to echo the same idiotic non-contributory sentiments?
robster970
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Considering the 'dinlow' is an accountant by trade, I know where my money is on this subject.
WTF- I wonder if his clients know he's frickin around make 1000's posts
on a trading forum when he's suppose to be doing their Tax Return!
scose-no-doubt
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What business is that of theirs?
wooohhhooooo my hundredth post... sorry people this post has nothing to do with the topic at hand, but since neither does anyone elses, im sure you wont mind me celebrating my 100th post.... and yes, i will doing this on the turn of every century.... 
scose-no-doubt
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Clean the thread, John, darling?
10 pages and still no real answer. To be honest i don’t think you will get a clear answer unless someone comes forward who has lost a case in court against HMRC for spread betting income (and as far as we can tell that has never happened). Of course a contact at HMRC would say you need to pay tax (in pretty woolly language though i bet), they just want people to pay up and not question things too much. Same goes for an MP (although let’s be honest here. The MP is highly unlikely to be a tax specialist so in reality what the **** would they know anyway).
I doubt HMRC has any real interest in risking a test case to clear this up whichever way it would go. As mentioned it would leave the flood gates open for claims against them. Also if it was set 100% certain they could tax spreadbet winnings it would be the last year they would get the opportunity to do it as it would either kill the industry or anyone who was winning enough for it to be a problem would take measures.
I am pretty sure HMRC are happy to continue as things are. Most spreadbetters lose, some win a bit (some of these i am sure will pay tax just to be safe, the rest wont but either way its not breaking the bank) and out of the few who make a killing i really don’t think it would be worth the effort to chase. I bet they could afford better lawyers and accountants than HMRC could anyway.
I doubt HMRC has any real interest in risking a test case to clear this up whichever way it would go. As mentioned it would leave the flood gates open for claims against them. Also if it was set 100% certain they could tax spreadbet winnings it would be the last year they would get the opportunity to do it as it would either kill the industry or anyone who was winning enough for it to be a problem would take measures.
I am pretty sure HMRC are happy to continue as things are. Most spreadbetters lose, some win a bit (some of these i am sure will pay tax just to be safe, the rest wont but either way its not breaking the bank) and out of the few who make a killing i really don’t think it would be worth the effort to chase. I bet they could afford better lawyers and accountants than HMRC could anyway.
