Capital gains on Coles Myer to Wesfarmer shares ?

Question

Oh please help, I am trying to do my man's tax! He works for Myer and had Coles Myer shares swapped for Wesfarmers. He seems to think only the cash component is a capital gains yet I can't find any tax ruling saying this. I just printed out 31 pages of some Class Ruling from the tax department....please save me from reading it!

Answer 1

Don't worry about the ruling, just follow one of the worksheets with instructions via here after choosing either to roll over or to not roll over:

http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/conten...

If you're still not sure what to do, it's time to see a tax accountant.

Answer 2

Did he receive a letter when the shares were swapped? The letter will probably explain the tax consequences in easy to understand terms.  The most likely implications are that a rollover applies so that only the cash component would be taxable (ie. what your man is telling you makes sense). He may be eligible for a CGT discount - check the letter that came with the shares!