Spread Betting
Anyone tried spread betting ? i see that in london is taxfree ?
Note that gambling is tax free in the UK, but the Inland Revenue can decide to tax you if your sole or main income is from gambling.
It is Tax free because it is considered gambling in the UK, not just London and tax free status only applies to UK residents.
Note that gambling is tax free in the UK, but the Inland Revenue can decide to tax you if your sole or main income is from gambling.
so it work only for uk resident ???
Note that gambling is tax free in the UK, but the Inland Revenue can decide to tax you if your sole or main income is from gambling.
The professional gambler is always a contentious issue. It introduces an interesting quandary - if you can be taxed on your winnings, can you offset your losses? I suspect this is not a tempting prospect for HMRC considering most gamblers lose over the long term!
Initial point of reference would be HMRC's manual (BIM22017) which states:
This topic was discussed by the Court of Appeal recently in the Hakki case, where a professional poker player was being chased for child support.
The mother's lawyer contended that the poker player was actually carrying out a "trade, profession or vocation" like a professional sportsman. He was methodical, applied targets, carefully selected his venues and tables, appeared on TV shows, ran a website and was consistently profitable over a number of years.
The court disagreed. They determined that gambling is not a trade and his TV appearances and website was not enough to be considered a trade or profession.
But.... interestingly the court did concede that under difference circumstances the proceeds of gambling might be taxable!
what is spread betting?
what is spread betting?
You are placing a bet on whether price will move up or down, rather than trading the underlying asset.
Your lot sizing works differently, but other than that it is fairly indistinguishable from 'normal' trading.
The court disagreed. They determined that gambling is not a trade and his TV appearances and website was not enough to be considered a trade or profession.
But.... interestingly the court did concede that under difference circumstances the proceeds of gambling might be taxable!
You are placing a bet on whether price will move up or down, rather than trading the underlying asset.
Your lot sizing works differently, but other than that it is fairly indistinguishable from 'normal' trading.
In my account I receive 10 pence per pip movement in my favour. Obviously lose 10 pence per pip if it goes against me.
As Honest Knave says it is almost identical to normal trading, but it is easier as pip values are the same for all instruments.
It's not like binary options. You get so much per pip.
My apologies, I certainly didn't mean to imply it was like binary options!
Perhaps I could have phrased it better. You can exit your "bet" at any time, the same way as a normal trade.
It is a grey area. The last thing that I remember reading on this subject was that gambling wins can be considered unearned income if it is the only or main income.
I often ponder whether this wording was deliberate:
The fact that a taxpayer has a system by which they place their bets, or that they are sufficiently successful to earn a living by gambling does not make their activities a trade.
My apologies, I certainly didn't mean to imply it was like binary options!
Perhaps I could have phrased it better. You can exit your "bet" at any time, the same way as a normal trade.
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