Employment-related securities | UK HMRC guidance on reporting and paying tax on capital gains and dividends
Published on 6th Sep 2024
New guidance published to help employee share plan participants report and pay tax on dividends and capital gains
HMRC published Employment Related Securities Bulletin 56 on 30 July, providing guidance to individuals on reporting and paying tax on dividends and capital gains arising from shares acquired through employee share plans.
The individual dividend allowance and capital gains annual exempt amount have been reduced in recent years – and are now £500 and £3,000 respectively for the tax year ending 5 April 2025. This means that more employee share plan participants have been required to report and pay tax on capital gains and dividends, often for the first time.
The July bulletin offers helpful guidance on how to do this, covering how selling or disposing of shares through tax-advantaged schemes impacts CGT and ways in which employees can report dividends and capital gains.
Osborne Clarke comment
This guidance has been included in HMRC's Employment Related Securities (ERS) Bulletin series, which provide information and updates on developments and are aimed typically at employers, agents and advisers.
It will be interesting to see whether HMRC updates its guidance for individuals (for example Tax and Employee Share Schemes: Overview) to reflect or link to the July bulletin.
Please get in touch with your usual Osborne Clarke contact or one of the experts below if you have any queries or would like to discuss further.
