Capital Gains Tax - Mary Holm

Q. In your article on April 17 you said that anyone dealing in real estate will also have to pay tax on the sale of any real estate that has been bought for the long term, if sold within 10 years.

I have been advised that I can have a long-term share portfolio as well as a short-term/speculative portfolio, and that the dealings in the short-term portfolio will not affect the tax situation of the long-term portfolio.

This seems to be a complete opposite of real estate.

Your comments on this would be much appreciated.

A. It's not the complete opposite, but it is a different situation.

In law, shares are regarded as personal property, and they are therefore treated differently from real property, says Simpson Grierson senior associate Paul Windeatt, who gave the advice in the original Q and A.

With real property, the law specifically states that if, while dealing in land, you buy a property separate from your land dealing activity, you will still be taxed on your gains on that property if you sell it within 10 years of purchase.

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