Vodafone / Verizon Sale

Only hearing about this today. I don't appear to have received anything. What happens if you do nothing?
 
Hen said:
Talking to Computershare today and the girl told me that the capital payment versus the Income Payment was irrelevant as the payment would have no tax deducted. My question is why this issue of tax was raised at all. The only reason I returned the form was to select the Capital Payment option as it was not default.
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I'm not sure Comutershare is the best place to get tax advice from. Perhaps she's talking about withholding tax in the US or something. Certainly, the guy I spoke to there last week had no clue about the tax implications and wasn't able for much more than telling me he'd send me the information by post (still no sign of it).

There's another article in the Irish Times today, dealing with the provisional guidance from Revenue on the situation, and these are the last couple of sentences in it:
While sobering, it does mean no capital gain arises and therefore no liability to capital gains tax.Those choosing to take the windfall as income will, however, face an income tax bill at the highest rate they pay this year.
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Vodafone share deal windfall to escape tax



I haven't been following this story at all, but why is it being described as a "windfall"?



Why are they "escaping" tax?



Irish investors to gain €27.5m from sale of US business
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Maybe, they are getting a gain on some recent valuation?


But Revenue says that the value “base cost”, or original value of the US arm of the business is close to €2.18 per Vodafone share. Thus Revenue estimates that shareholders will be nearly one euro down on each of the Vodafone shares under the “windfall”.
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Brendan Burgess said:
Vodafone share deal windfall to escape tax
I haven't been following this story at all, but why is it being described as a "windfall"?
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Slow news day? :)

To be perfectly honest, I've already spent more of my time on trying to sort out my (long-ignored) Vodafone shares than I will get from the "windfall" but still, if I weren't taking my time into account then it'll be 40 or 50 euro's worth of free money for me. Free money gets people excited and excited people buy more newspapers, I suppose. And there could be one or two people who own substantially more than my 41 shares, who might justifiably feel like they're getting a windfall.
 
I suppose it's a windfall because the shareholder are due to get an unexpected gain.
 
Janet said:
I did the same - bought the minimum amount of Eircom shares (oh the innocence of me in those days!), ended up getting Eircell and then Vodafone shares.
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Same here; I chose the share reinvestment option from the get-go and am up to 879 now.
 
Belton said:
Same here; I chose the share reinvestment option from the get-go and am up to 879 now.
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Wow. Well, now you're just making me jealous. Wish I had actually filled out that piece of paper after all. At the time I had gotten a bit of a kick about receiving a dividend cheque and since it was such a tiny amount I didn't think it was really worth bothering about. Oh well, hindsight and all that. Should never have gotten into it (buying shares I mean) before I was in a place to actually bother looking after the bureaucratic side of things properly. 879 shares is definitely a bit more windfally - maybe it's not entirely unjustified.
 
Belton said:
I suppose it's a windfall because the shareholder are due to get an unexpected gain.
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That's the whole point though - it is not a gain! What is happening here would be better described as "Eircom shareholders to crystallize losses on 50% of their holding".
 
How can people decide on gain or not. Does it not depend on share price post event.
 
Ok I am really sorry but I like so many others are confused and I am not understanding it all. I have been in contact with the helpline as again like so many I moved address many years ago and have not received anything in a number of years. Change of address is all done and they are transferring my unclaimed dividends today and are doing same for my husband. He was able to have his Share Ref Number confirmed over the phone but they would not give me mine but have given me details of my holding etc...

I know there are 2 forms to be complete by 11.15 on Sunday next 26th January. Obviously I will not have my pack before then.

This is my question - If these are not completed and returned by then does that penalize us for tax free option - ie capital

I know I have been really stupid not keeping things uptodate
 
I'm also not sure what to do
I logged on online to vote. Despite there being two voting forms, I only seem to be required to vote online once. Fair enough...whatever.

But I'm not sure which option I should opt for when it comes to the sale of Vernizon shares. I don't reside in Ireland anymore, but we do rent our house out and pay tax on the rental income. My husband takes care of the return, but I would imagine we are well below the high income tax bracket. But I will check with him.

I tried reading the revenue's brief in one of the key posts, but my brain is numb. I don't do so well with figures. Should I opt for income tax option or the capital gains tax option? Do I need to declare something after I do this?

Thanks in advance for your advices.
m
 
harriet said:
This is my question - If these are not completed and returned by then does that penalize us for tax free option - ie capital
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I spoke to them again today as I have not yet received the pack which I requested last Wednesday. I was told that it takes up to ten working days for overseas post and that it was sent on 19th January by airmail (apparently everyone works on Sundays now, who knew). Anyway I asked her about the deadlines and she said the deadline for choosing what to do (whether to take the special dividend or capital) is 20th February.

The deadline that is this week is for the vote on whether to go ahead with the transaction, as far as I understood. Given that I have very little opinion on that aspect, not to mention such a miniscule holding that my vote really won't have any impact, I don't think this is particulary important if I miss it. Perhaps someone with more of a clue than me could confirm that.
 
The simple guide to anyone who bought these as Eircom shares back in the day is to opt for the Capital Gains option as there are no gains and therefore no tax to pay (you can even use the loss to offset other gains if needed).
Harriet, the forms to be completed by the 26th can be completed online (check out the two links under Online Voting at their [broken link removed]) but even if you don't complete them, it's only to vote on whether you want this event to go ahead or not and to be honest most shareholders here will have such a tiny holding it won't really make a difference.
The important form to complete and return (if you don't want your returns treated as income tax or the other default options on the other questions) is the Form of Election.
 
Just also found this article in the Irish Times from yesterday, which is a sort of "vodafone shares for dummies" format (or at least, I understood most of it).
Making the right call with your Vodafone shares
The form of election (choosing whether to take a dividend or capital) is important and due by 20th February and attached to that is, apparently, the other important one, which allows you to choose to sell your Verizon shares immediately (and for free, i.e. no commission or charges if I've understood correctly). That needs to be sent in by 4th April.

He also notes the following, which is probably not a bad reminder for a lot of us:
One last thing – use an X, not a tick in filling the boxes. That’s what they ask for and share registrars can be picky about these things. You wouldn’t want to face a tax bill for such a simple error!
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Is it too late to choose capital or income ?

I want to choose the non-default option but fear I am too late. I requested a new pack from Computershare today, it probably won't arrive in time to fill out the online voting forms (deadline is the 26th). My question is, if I miss that deadline, are all subsequent deadlines irrelevant ?
For instance there is a February 20th deadline to choose between capital or income.
 
harriet said:
I know there are 2 forms to be complete by 11.15 on Sunday next 26th January. Obviously I will not have my pack before then.

This is my question - If these are not completed and returned by then does that penalize us for tax free option - ie capital
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The first two (coloured) forms are for voting for the transaction or not.

If you don't vote, no big deal.

The big shareholders will vote for the deal.

So don't worry about not voting.

Not voting will not exclude you from the return of value.
 
ESOP Vodafone shares

Can anyone confirm that there is likely to be a CGT liability on the Vodafone/Verizon payout if some of your Vodafone shares are as a result of the eircom ESOP and thus have a "nil" base cost?
 
Hi Guys

Please can you help, I hold Vodafone shares yet have not received my " info " pack, and cannot find anywhere I can ring to follow up why etc, My address is correct on my holdings etc....if I do nothing I assume I will automatically be posted.?...or given the new shares via the stock purchasing company I use.?

Any help greatly received...

thanks
 
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