Calculating CGT on shares with unknown book cost

Hi there.

Way back in 2000 I bought some shares in a US company through Davy. I've done nothing with the account since then, but got a notification from Davy this week to say that the shares were sold off (after the US company was acquired), and the proceeds have arrived in my bank account.

I'm trying to figure out how much CGT I'll have to pay but I have no records of the the amount I paid for the shares originally (in punt, presumably). Davy don't have a book cost either - seems like their records only go back to 2002.

Any suggestions on how to figure it out? I could try to back-calculate it based on the share value history and an estimate of when I *think* I bought the shares, but it's unlikely to be anyways accurate.

Thanks!

Are the figures material?

Sorry, I'm not sure what you mean by material - the proceeds that arrived to my account were more than the personal exemption if that helps (approx €10k).

T McGibney said:

Are the figures material?

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Probably adopt the approach that the OP has outlined, which is reasonable?

There’s a question as to whether one might tick an expression of doubt box…personally I wouldn’t.

The bottom line is that the liability is somewhere between €3,000 and zero. Assuming the base cost wasn’t zero, any errors in the OP’s best endeavours basis are not going to be material (i.e. meaningful or significant, OP).

No Revenue inspector would have an issue with a reasonable approach.

Gordon Gekko said:

Probably adopt the approach that the OP has outlined, which is reasonable?

There’s a question as to whether one might tick an expression of doubt box…personally I wouldn’t.

The bottom line is that the liability is somewhere between €3,000 and zero. Assuming the base cost wasn’t zero, any errors in the OP’s best endeavours basis are not going to be material (i.e. meaningful or significant, OP).

No Revenue inspector would have an issue with a reasonable approach.

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No way should they even consider thinking about ticking an expression of doubt box.

I agree that their proposed approach is reasonable for proceeds of approx €10k. Were there another zero on it, it would probably be worth researching more closely.

Thank you both, that's very helpful. Sounds like I'll be ok if I make a reasonable effort at calculating the book cost, taking historical exchange rates into account (and then apply indexation relief).

I'm almost afraid to ask about the expression of doubt box, but it sounds like an invitation for an overhaul by a tax inspector - something like that?!

tripps said:

Thank you both, that's very helpful. Sounds like I'll be ok if I make a reasonable effort at calculating the book cost, taking historical exchange rates into account (and then apply indexation relief).

I'm almost afraid to ask about the expression of doubt box, but it sounds like an invitation for an overhaul by a tax inspector - something like that?!

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Correct. I agree with Tommy, best not to do that.

Your best endeavours will probably be better than some stockbrokers’!

Wouldn't the online market apps be of some use in determining the cost per share? Of course I'm assuming it was a quoted company.

Yahoo Finance,Google to name two might even have the history of the company.