Forex Advice

[baseage]

hi

I am looking at the way that i should set up my forex tradining as i have just arrived into the uk from Australia.

I have heard about spread betting and the tax benefits of this. I have also heard that this is not tax free, if you do this as your sole job which is what i am looking at doing soon.

any advice would be great

Michael

 

[jamiecooper]

Hi Michael,

How familiar are you with forex trading at the moment? It's a difficult area of finance and whilst the returns can be great, it's quite easy to lose all your money very quickly.

Spread betting is definitely tax free because it is classed as gambling rather than an investment. This will likely always be the case because if HMRC started taxing spread betting gains they would then need to allow people to offset any losses against other investment gains, which would be a net loss for them because as i'm sure you're aware, there are significantly more people who lose money doing it than gain money.

 

[baseage]

Hi jamiecooper

I have been trading now for almost 12 months so i am quiet familiar with trading. Currently i am a profitable trader so i don't want to pay tax unless i need to and this is the reason why spread betting sounds attractive as i don't have to pay tax on my profits.

The main questions that i have are:

1 - If i didnt go down the spreadbetting route, what taxes will i occur? How much money can i make before tax is applied? Can i offset my expenses ie trade shows, computer, internet connection? should i set up a company and by doing so will reduce my tax?

2 - If i go down the spreadbetting route, can i trade full time or only part time? If only part time, how many hours a week?

Warm regards

Michael

 

[Aspect Investments]

This may help. Spread betting verses CFDs

 

[SmartestFinance]

You may be wiser trading on a regulated exchange.