Gilt Trip: what the taxman leaves you

You

Taxable income, £ a year

Tax rate on coupons

Amount to invest, £

Coupons are taxed as income. The gain from buying under £100 and being repaid at £100 is free of capital gains tax, so a gilt bought at a discount is taxed on less of its return. Not modelled: the Personal Savings Allowance (£1,000 basic rate, £500 higher, none additional), the 0% starting rate for savings, Scottish rates, ISAs and pensions (no tax at all). Prices are DMO retail purchase prices: you pay the offer, so real-world yields are a touch lower than mid-market figures you may see elsewhere. This is arithmetic, not advice.

The whole market, after tax

Every conventional gilt by years to maturity. The hollow dot is the gross yield, the filled dot is what you keep, and the line between them is the tax bill.

Low coupon against high coupon

Pick a maturity window. Within it, the lowest-coupon gilt goes up against the highest-coupon gilt, at every tax rate.

Head to head, in pounds

Choose any two gilts. Held to maturity with the amount above, at your tax rate.

Gilt A

Gilt B

Every gilt

Click a heading to sort. Net is at your tax rate.