Claiming losses from the disposal of investments

Can I classify my loss as a revenue loss?

A revenue loss is a loss arising from carrying on a business for the purpose of earning income.

If you are a share trader rather than a shareholder, you can classify your loss as a revenue loss.

In very general terms:

• a shareholder is someone who holds shares for the purpose of earning income from dividends and similar receipts
• a share trader is someone who carries out business activities for the purpose of earning income from buying and selling shares.

To determine if your activities make you a shareholder or a share trader, you need to look at certain elements, such as:

• the nature, regularity, volume and repetition of the share activity
• the amount of capital employed
• the extent to which there is organisation in a business-like manner, through the keeping of books or records and the use of a system.