GeraCash / UK Capital Gains Tax / CGT on shares
Capital Gains Tax on shares 2025/26 — rates, allowance & ISA exemption
How Capital Gains Tax applies to shares and funds, the 18%/24% rates, and why ISA and pension holdings are exempt.
How much Capital Gains Tax do I pay on shares?
Selling shares or funds held outside a tax wrapper can trigger Capital Gains Tax on the profit. The gain above the £3,000 annual exempt amount is taxed at 18% within your basic-rate band and 24% above it. Shares held inside a Stocks and Shares ISA or a pension are free of CGT.
For shares and funds held in an ordinary (unwrapped) account, your gain is the sale proceeds less the cost you paid, netted across gains and losses for the year. The £3,000 annual exempt amount is deducted before CGT is worked out at 18% or 24%.
Investments inside a Stocks and Shares ISA or a pension are exempt from CGT entirely — you can sell holdings within the wrapper without a CGT charge, which is why wrappers are a common way to shelter gains.
The same 18%/24% rates that apply to property now apply to shares (since 30 October 2024). Example: a £20,000 share gain for someone earning £40,000 produces about £3,463.80 of CGT once the allowance and band split are applied.
This page is information, not tax advice. Figures are the published HMRC rates for 2025/26.
Capital Gains Tax calculator
Enter your gain and other income to see the CGT due across the 18% and 24% bands.
Profit on the disposal, before the allowance
Salary etc. — decides the 18% vs 24% split
Total CGT due
£3,463.80
17.32% of the gain
Taxable gain
£17,000.00
after the £3,000.00 allowance
Gain after CGT
£16,536.20
what you keep
Uses HMRC's method: your gain (after the £3,000.00 annual exempt amount) is added on top of your taxable income — the part still inside the basic-rate band is taxed at 18%, the rest at 24%. Information only, not tax advice. Source: GOV.UK / HMRC — Capital Gains Tax: rates and annual exempt amount.
Frequently asked questions
- Do I pay Capital Gains Tax on shares in an ISA?
- No. Gains on shares and funds held inside a Stocks and Shares ISA (or a pension) are free of Capital Gains Tax. CGT only applies to holdings outside those wrappers.
- What is the CGT rate on shares?
- 18% within your basic-rate band and 24% above it, on the gain over the £3,000 annual exempt amount — the same rates as other assets since 30 October 2024.
- Can I offset losses on shares against gains?
- Yes. Capital losses can be set against gains in the same tax year (and unused losses can generally be carried forward), reducing the amount above the £3,000 allowance that is taxed.
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Data source
Contains public sector information published by HM Revenue & Customs and licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: GOV.UK / HMRC — Capital Gains Tax: rates and annual exempt amount (Tax year 2025/26).
Rates and thresholds from GOV.UK / HMRC — Capital Gains Tax: rates and annual exempt amount. Retrieved 2026-07-01. Calculations by Gera from the published HMRC rates — no figures are estimated.
More on Capital Gains Tax
- UK Capital Gains Tax rates — How the 18% and 24% Capital Gains Tax rates work, and how HMRC decides which one applies to your gain.
- Capital Gains Tax allowance (annual exempt amount) — The £3,000 tax-free Capital Gains Tax allowance every individual gets each year, and how it reduces the gain you pay tax on.
- Capital Gains Tax on property — How Capital Gains Tax applies to second homes and buy-to-let, why your main home is usually exempt, and the 18%/24% residential rates.