Hi
Here in the UK the rules for matching sells to buys for capital gains tax
purposes are complex. The basic rule is to use the average cost, but there
is a "30 day rule" which means that a sell should match with a buy in the
following 30 days.
Take a look at cgtcalculator.com if you want to explore the gory details.
So how much is it possible to take the pain out of this with ledger?
In particular, is it possible to compute the amount for a split from the
current balance of an account (see below).
By way of example, suppose I have executed these trades in commodity AAA.
1. 2019/01/01 Buy 10 @ £10
2. 2019/02/01 Buy 5 @ £12
3. 2019/03/01 Sell -8 @ £15
4. 2019/04/01 Sell -2 @ £18
5. 2019/04/15 Buy 3 @ £20
6. 2019/05/01 Sell -5 @ £22
7. 2020/05/01 Sell -3 @ £25
So for calculating gains
- #3 should use the average cost of #1 and #2
- #4 should use the cost of #5 (within 30 days)
- #6 should use the remaining average cost of all trades to date
- #7 likewise
I need to track the running gain because the tax year ends on 5 April.
The best I can think of with ledger is this:
2019/01/01 Buy
Assets:Investments 10 AAA ; @ £10.00
Assets:Cash -£100.00
[Lots:AAA:Lot0] -10 AAA
[Lots:AAA:Lot0] £100.00
2019/02/01 Buy
Assets:Investments 5 AAA ; @ £12.00
Assets:Cash -£60.00
[Lots:AAA:Lot0] -5 AAA
[Lots:AAA:Lot0] £60.00
2019/03/01 Sell
Assets:Investments -8 AAA ; @ £15.00
Assets:Cash £120.00
[Lots:AAA:Lot0] 8 AAA
[Lots:AAA:Lot0] (-(£100+£60)/(10+5)*8)
Income:Gains
2019/04/15 Buy
Assets:Investments 3 AAA ; @ £20.00
Assets:Cash -£60.00
[Lots:AAA:Lot1] -3 AAA
[Lots:AAA:Lot1] £60.00
2019/04/01 Sell
Assets:Investments -2 AAA ; @ £18.00
Assets:Cash £36.00
[Lots:AAA:Lot1] 2 AAA
[Lots:AAA:Lot1] (-£60/3*2)
Income:Gains
2019/04/01 Merge Lot1 AAA into lot 0
[Lots:AAA:Lot1] =0 AAA
[Lots:AAA:Lot0]
2019/04/01 Merge Lot1 £ into lot 0
[Lots:AAA:Lot1] =£0
[Lots:AAA:Lot0]
2019/05/01 Sell
Assets:Investments -5 AAA ; @ 22.00
Assets:Cash £110.00
[Lots:AAA:Lot0] 5 AAA
[Lots:AAA:Lot0]
(-(£100+£60-(£100+£60)/(10+5)*8+(£60-£60*2/3))/(10+5 -8+3 -2)*5)
2020/05/01 Sell
Assets:Investments -3 AAA ; @ £25.00
Assets:Cash £75.00
[Lots:AAA:Lot0] =0 AAA
[Lots:AAA:Lot0] =£0
Income:Gains
OK, so the last one isn't so bad - it's easy when the position is being
closed out. But the others... And this is but a simple example.
Note BTW that the later matching buy #5 for sell #4 comes deliberately
before it in the journal.
Hence my question: is it possible to compute the amount for a split from
the current balance in an account? What I'd like to be able to enter for
the sell transactions is something like:
2019/03/01 Sell
Assets:Investments -8 AAA ; @ £15.00
Assets:Cash £120.00
[Lots:AAA:Lot0] 8 AAA
[Lots:AAA:Lot0] (-(balance £)/(balance AAA)*8)
Income:Gains
2019/04/01 Sell
Assets:Investments -2 AAA ; @ £18.00
Assets:Cash £36.00
[Lots:AAA:Lot1] 2 AAA
[Lots:AAA:Lot1] (-(balance £)/(balance AAA)*2)
Income:Gains
2019/05/01 Sell
Assets:Investments -5 AAA ; @ 22.00
Assets:Cash £110.00
[Lots:AAA:Lot0] 5 AAA
[Lots:AAA:Lot0] (-(balance £)/(balance AAA)*5)
...and the last one (closing out) is fine.
Any suggestions would be very welcome.
Thanks
Dan
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