I am a pensioner, whose self-assessment return will show a substantial loss on online CFD trading. I have depleted my savings and cannot trade again. Will the taxman offset my yearly pension tax against the £25,000 loss? If so, will it offset my pension tax until the £25,000 is fully used up (that is, if I live for a long time)?  

Arthur Weller replies: 

In HMRC’s Business Income Manual at BIM56800, HMRC explains that an activity of buying and selling shares and other financial instruments undertaken by an individual will normally amount to investment or speculation falling short of trading unless there are factors which take the case ‘out of the norm’. So, you have a capital loss on your hands. A capital loss is usually only set off against capital gains in the same tax year or in a future tax year. The fact that you have an income tax liability due to the receipt of income is not relevant to your capital gains tax situation. The two are considered separately for almost all tax rules.