Gilts and collective investments (OEIC/unit trusts)

Gilts (and most corporate bonds) are exempt from Capital Gains Tax on disposal — a gain or loss on selling a gilt simply doesn't enter the Capital Gains Tax calculation at all, in either direction. The coupon interest they pay is a different matter entirely: it's taxable savings income, taxed the same way as bank interest, using the personal savings allowance and starting rate for savings in the usual order. For OEICs and unit trusts, what matters is the underlying fund: a fund holding more than 60% interest-bearing assets counts as a bond fund for tax purposes, and its distributions are taxed as savings income, not dividends. An equity fund's distributions are taxed as dividend income instead, using the dividend allowance and dividend rates. Either way, a gain on disposing of the fund itself is subject to Capital Gains Tax in the normal way — the equity/bond distinction only affects how income distributions are taxed, not disposal gains.