Hey, can someone tell me if it’s generally possible to utilize profits from an OST (Osakesäästötili - Share Savings Account) and the taxes paid on them to offset losses made on an AOT (Arvopaperikauppatili - Securities Trading Account)?
In other words, if I’ve paid €1000 in taxes on OST sales and made €1000 in AOT losses, will these nicely balance out to ±€0 in the final tax assessment? Does this require closing the OST account, or can it be left at “zero” to await new adventures?
Sales and purchases within a capital growth account (OST) do not have any tax implications. You have not had to pay any taxes on OST sales.
If you withdraw money, part of it is profit (note, this also includes unrealized profit, meaning the entire account value is considered, not just realized trades within it), which is a potential major pitfall. Let’s say that at the end of last year, your OST was at its peak with Harvia, Kamux, and QT at incredible values, and then you sold some slow-moving stock and withdrew that money. You also paid taxes on a portion of the unrealized profits from those “small investor boom-boom stocks,” and those taxes were paid even if those stocks later plummeted by half.
As a general rule: an OST is a closed box. It is not suitable for moving money back and forth. Only put money there that you intend to keep there for decades, growing for your retirement days, until one beautiful day you close it and withdraw everything (and then pay taxes on it at the time of withdrawal).
You do not mess with it every year for tax reasons because it is a closed box. There are no profits from which to deduct expenses or losses, because it is a closed box. Use a regular investment account (AOT) if you want to mess with these things, and taxation will then run continuously according to realized profits and losses.
(And for these reasons, I, for example, do not use an OST because I do not believe my investment horizon is long enough (over 10 years) for the deal to be worthwhile, so I do not want to “lock” money in there.)
Thanks. I have used an OST (Osakesäästötili - Share Savings Account) for trading, and it’s nicely in the green now. At the same time, I have unfortunately incurred a big loss on the AOT (Arvopaperikaupan ottolainaus - Securities Trading Credit) side, and for risk management reasons, I would now like to offset those amounts for tax purposes. So, the question was, is that possible?
Yes, this should be possible. Withdrawals made from a profitable OST (Osakesäästötili - Share Savings Account) are capital income, and losses incurred on an AOT (Arvo-osuustili - Securities Account) are deductible from capital income. You might have to use a calculator a bit to match that, due to the tax calculation rules for OST.
The other way around, however, doesn’t work, as OST losses can only be deducted for tax purposes by closing the entire account.
Yes, but note that you pay tax on all the profits in the investment savings account (OST) in proportion to the size of the withdrawal, not just on realized gains. So, let’s assume you’ve deposited 50k into an OST, then expertly traded it up to a market value of 100k, and you withdraw 10k. Half of this 10k is considered profit and is taxed. It doesn’t matter if you’ve actually only made a profit of a thousand. In OST withdrawals, taxes are also paid on unrealized gains. That’s why it’s really unsuitable for frequent money in/out movements.
Losses on an ordinary brokerage account (AOT) can also be deducted in future years; I think the limit was 5 years, or what was it.
@Jarnis If I make a loss this year with AOT (Allotment on Transfer), will the tax authority automatically take it into account as a deduction from next year’s capital gains? Or do I have to remember to claim it myself?
This spring’s tax proposal was the first for me that included capital gains from stocks. Nordea conveniently provided the information to the tax authority. Only with IPOs did I have to state the acquisition price.
Yes, it remembers, but it’s still advisable to check yourself, of course.
I’ve asked this many times in different places and always get different answers, so now that we’re talking about taxes, if you close your investor savings account, how long can you deduct losses? I assume you can only deduct them from capital gains, and if there are none, how long do they remain deductible?
I can’t answer your previous message for sure, but it occurred to me, can you also deduct the €50 transaction fee, which would result from closing a share savings account, e.g., in Nordnet, in taxation?
@Puuhoyla2 :
Google’s first search result for “share savings account loss”:
It’s not a very long article, but under “How does a share savings account work?”, you’ll find the following sentence correctly bolded:
If your share savings account generates a loss, you can deduct the loss from your capital income only in the year you close the share savings account.
@Banker I personally wouldn’t withdraw funds from an OST (Osakesäästötili, Share Savings Account) yet to cover losses, because as mentioned, you also pay tax on unrealized gains, making it possible to end up paying taxes on gains that never actually materialize. However, AOT (Arvo-osuustili, Book-Entry Account) losses are deductible for T+5 years and can be used, for example, to reduce rental or dividend income.
Withdrawing money from an OST, in my opinion, increases the risk level, not decreases it. I would use it as a last resort. Withdrawing money also permanently weakens the OST, because part of the withdrawn money is profit, which means you cannot deposit the withdrawn amount back.
Due to the deposit cap, the return on the account plays an extremely important role in the profitability of an OST, as capital can grow efficiently.
@DarkRoast So my intention is to empty the whole pot, realize everything, and thus pay taxes only on the realized profit. I just wanted confirmation about settling OST (equity savings account) gains and AOT (investment account) losses before I make the withdrawals.
This is precisely the point, as elsewhere it has been mentioned that it can be deducted for ten years? I don’t understand how such an essential matter cannot be clearly stated.
“To the extent that the loss has not been deducted from taxable capital income in the tax year, it shall be taken into account when confirming the capital income category loss referred to in Section 60 of the Income Tax Act.”
In Nordnet it says: “If the loss from an equity savings account cannot be fully deducted in the year of termination, the loss will be taken into account when confirming the capital income category loss. The capital income category loss will be deducted from capital income for the following 10 tax years as capital income accrues.”
If the ( 
) OST (Share Savings Account) is at a loss, then withdrawing the money should not be a problem, and the same amount can be transferred back if it is assumed that the OST was fully loaded with €50k.
The loss, however, only materializes when the OST (Osakesäästötili - Share Savings Account) is closed - simply emptying the funds does not do this.
Hi, I’m looking for confirmation on tax deductions for a share savings account (OST). I’ve put about 30k into the OST and the current value of my investments is approximately 24.5k. It would probably be wise to utilize the losses for tax purposes by closing the OST with my current bank (Nordea) and opening a new OST with Nordnet, where I now want to centralize all my investment activities.
To get this done, should I proceed in this order?
Will the information automatically go to the tax authorities, and will this operation concretely result in a 5.5k tax benefit and the OST being in a more preferred location in the future? The losses will apparently be deducted from 2022 capital income / subsequent years, and I can open the new OST a week after closing the old one. Have I understood this situation correctly, and is this a sensible way to proceed? Thanks for the help.
It won’t be long until someone comes along and says that you can only deduct it in the year you stop using the OST.
Do stocks in an equity savings account (OST) need to be itemized/specified for the tax authorities?
Since Nordnet only reports the value/total sum of the OST to the tax authorities…
No, because no one cares what you do inside the Equity Savings Account (OST). Only withdrawals matter, at which point you pay tax on the profit of the entire OST in proportion to the withdrawal.
Yes, deposits matter too. When withdrawing money, you pay more tax the less you have deposited into the cheese portfolio (equity savings account).
If you trade extensively within an Equity Savings Account (OST) but don’t withdraw any funds—meaning no capital income is generated—can you still claim deductions against capital income (home office, internet, computer, books, etc.)?