If I cash in an Investment Bond, on which tax is paid on the interest at source, should I declare the interest as "Unearned Income" or "Capital Gains" on my tax return? Thank you for any advice.
The HMRC rules about these are not as striaghtforward as other financial services products.
I suggest you read this, then come back again if you have further questions.
http://www.thefundsup.../Investment_bonds.htm
Thank you 'buildersmate', your answer clarifes nearly everything. Just one additional query - Do you know if I can declare any profit (or loss!) under 'Capital Gains' rather than 'Unearned Income'?
I think you will have to look at the way the earnings have been declared on your specific bond; some of the 'profit' will be created from growth in the bond (capital gain) and some of it will be returns.