Advisers want CGT reporting in platform tax packs

Advisers want platforms to include capital gains tax (CGT) reporting in their tax packs, in the same way they do for income received from dividend and interest distributions, analysis from Financial Software Ltd (FSL) has found.

The research showed that 94.1 per cent of advisers would like to have CGT reports included in platform tax packs.

Separate analysis from The Lang Cat highlighted that tax planning was rising up the agenda, with 39 per cent of advice firms citing it as a priority.

The same proportion of advisers reported a sharp rise in clients seeking reassurance around tax and legislative uncertainty.

FSL noted that the volume of concerned clients had been “overwhelming” for many firms, putting pressure on workloads that were already stretched.

Separate findings from FSL showed that CGT calculators were the fourth most commonly cited ‘must have’ feature in advisers’ platform due diligence, up by two places on the previous year.

However, despite this increasing demand, around one in six advisers said they were not confident that the platforms they use accurately reflected their clients’ CGT positions.

FSL warned this was likely to become a larger issue as the latest HMRC data had shown CGT receipts reached record levels in 2025/26.

"With more individuals drawn into scope for CGT, tax planning has moved centre stage – it's no longer a peripheral issue affecting only high net worth clients,” commented FSL managing director, Michael Edwards.

“Advice firms have been contacting us directly for help because they are clearly frustrated with CGT reporting across platforms, viewing it as either lacking or inconsistent.

"With shrinking allowances, and frozen income tax thresholds, advisers are reworking financial plans to try and make greater use of tax-efficient structures for their clients.”

Edwards argued that this demanded accurate data and robust modelling tools from the platforms advisers use.

“Given the direction of travel for UK tax policy, this problem is only going to intensify,” he continued.

“Platforms that have the capability to provide this data and reporting properly, and those that do it well are the ones advisers will choose to work with."

Eleven.2 Financial Planning founder and chartered financial planner, Greg Moss, added: "Tax has become one of the biggest sources of client queries we deal with, and CGT is right at the centre of it as more of our clients are pulled into scope.

“The information we need to report accurately already sits with the platforms – it shouldn't take hours of manual reconciliation on our side to piece it together.

“Giving advisers CGT data in the same straightforward way we already get dividend and interest information would save real time and let us spend more of it on the advice our clients actually come to us for."

---