Tax on shares / dividends questions for a novice.

I've been buying shares for a little while now and it's always been in the back of my mind about the tax aspect. I've been reading the threads but there seems to be a lot of "if this then that" type scenarios. So I've a few questions that might set me on the straight and narrow.

1: I know there is a €1270 tax free exemption. Great. So if I sell shares to get my profit today can I buy the shares back tomorrow or do I have to wait a certain amount of time to buy them back.

2: Similar question for selling shares that are at a loss. If my shares have gone down 10% can I sell them and report a loss then buy them back. I know this conflicts with question 1. Hopefully this is not a scenario I need to worry about.

3: If I sell shares at a loss how many years can I carry the loss for to hopefully offset tax on profit in the future?

4: I've gotten some dividends. They're small. Are these in the €1270 exemption too or do I just get taxed on them. I don't care either way. I just want to do it right.

5: On my dividends, they've been from US companies. Typically a small amount has been withheld for tax. When I'm reporting to Revenue do I report 100% of the dividend or the amount I actually received.

6: Finally I've been Googling where to report any profit. It says Form 12. I've had a look at MyAccount on Revenue.ie. I'm a PAYE worker. I can't see anything that says share income or dividend. Is there a simple way of reporting these numbers to Revenue or is it a 20 page form to report €50?

qwerty5 said:

1: I know there is a €1270 tax free exemption. Great. So if I sell shares to get my profit today can I buy the shares back tomorrow or do I have to wait a certain amount of time to buy them back.

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Yes, you can use the exemption, and immediately buy back the same share. But you pay stamp duty & trading costs so don't forget to factor this in.

Remember, if you're married you can use the CGT exemption of both when you sell shares, if you jointly own them.

qwerty5 said:

selling shares that are at a loss

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No. This is where there's a 4 week rule. If you buy back the same share within 4 weeks, then it's treated as the same share, so you cannot crystallise the loss (the loss can only be offset against a gain on the same share).

qwerty5 said:

3: If I sell shares at a loss how many years can I carry the loss for to hopefully offset tax in the future?

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Currently indefinitely.
But make sure to report the loss.
It future years, you must use the loss carried forward before any exemption (so you use up loss before your 1270 exemption).

qwerty5 said:

4: I've gotten some dividends. They're small. Are these in the €1270 exemption too or do I just get taxed on them. I don't care either way. I just want to do it right.

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No. The exemption applies to capital gains. Dividends are subject to income tax, so there is no exemption.

qwerty5 said:

5: On my dividends, they've been from US companies. Typically a small amount has been withheld for tax. When I'm reporting to Revenue do I report 100% of the dividend or the amount I actually received.

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You report the gross amount, and that dividend wutholding tax has been applied. This is treated as a credit against your tax due. I haven't done a return for a while so I don't remember the specific lines to fill in.

qwerty5 said:

6: Finally I've been Googling where to report any profit. It says Form 12. I've had a look at MyAccount on Revenue.ie. I'm a PAYE worker. I can't see anything that says share income or dividend. Is there a simple way of reporting these numbers to Revenue or is it a 20 page form to report €50?

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The new online form is a simplified form 12.
After you complete PAYE income, there is a section for non PAYE income where you enter details. I haven't used it since they changed the online form, so someone else will guide you better.

@qwerty5 sorry - I shouldn't have replied before coffee! I've corrected my response to question 1 & 2 which I had misread.

I don't earn any US dividends so I'm only going from memory, but isn't there a specific complication here? There's a US withholding tax which you don't have to pay if you fill in a W8-BEN (?) form for your broker. If you don't do it in advance and end up paying the tax, you can't claim a credit for it with Irish revenue.

Oh, yes US shares.... I had a bad morning!

Been a while, but from memory there are 2 different dividend witholding tax rates for US shares - 30% without W8-BEN, or 15% with one. However, I don't believe it's possible any more to buy US listed shares without a W8-BEN since all the FATCA legislation came in?
I always thought that you could offset the DWT against tax, but that the complication was if you were a 20% rate payer here, you couldn't get back the extra 10% that was withheld. (I either lost, or liquidated, my share holdings after the crash, so memory is a little fuzzy on it.)

You're allowed the 15% withholding tax as specified in the double taxation agreement for double taxation relief. If you enter the gross dividend amount on ROS, the DTR is automatically calculated. I assume the Form 12 does the same.