UK shareholders
Dividends
Capital Gains Tax

UK shareholders

  • You can sign up as an e-shareholder and receive BT shareholder communications electronically - via email, instead of by post. You will then be able to read and/or download the information via the internet. You will also have dividends paid directly to your bank or building society account.

  • Shareview Portfolio is EQ’s online shareholder portal.

    Benefits of a Shareview Portfolio

    • Manage your personal information
    • Manage your bank account details (to ensure you receive cash dividends direct in the future)
    • View your share and dividend information, including indicative share valuations
    • Buy and sell shares
    • Vote on company meeting resolutions

  • BT is committed to lowering its environmental impact for a better future, and therefore encourages it’s shareholders to support this by registering to become an e-shareholder and manage their shareholdings via EQ’s Shareview Portfolio. 

  • Details of the instalments for the three offers for sale of BT's shares can be found on the Listings page.

  • BT produces audio CDs for the benefit of shareholders with special needs. In June, a CD is available of extracts from the combined summary financial statements and AGM Notice. Other shareholder circulars are recorded on an ad hoc basis.  If you require a copy of the audio CD please contact the Shareholder Helpline. 

  • The reports can be accessed via the Annual reports page on our website. Printed copies of the reports may be ordered from the Shareholder Helpline.

  • You can access the company's Annual Reports page on our website. For information other than the company's Annual Reports & Accounts, you can visit our About BT website.

  • British Telecommunications plc was incorporated in April 1984 in the UK. It was formerly owned by the UK Government, but between 1984 and 1993 virtually all the shares were sold to the public. BT shares ceased trading on the London, New York and Tokyo stock exchanges on 16 November 2001.

  • BT Group was incorporated in the UK in March 30, 2001 as Newgate Telecommunications Limited.  The company changed its name to BT Group plc on 11 September 2001.  Following the demerger of mm02 from BT in November 2001, the remaining activities of BT were transferred to BT Group plc.  BT Group shares started trading on the London and New York Stock Exchanges on 19 November 2001.

  • Shares in BT were offered by the UK Government in three stages, in November 1984, December 1991 and July 1993. The instalments for the three tranches of BT's flotation - BT1, BT2 and BT3 - are summarised on the Listings page.

  • The confirmed official opening prices for BT Group and mmO2 shares for capital gains tax ('CGT') purposes, were 285.75 pence and 82.75 pence respectively. This means that, of the total value of 368.50 pence, 77.54% is attributable to BT Group and 22.46% to mmO2.

    Accordingly, for CGT calculations, the base cost of your BT Group shares is calculated by multiplying the acquisition cost of your BT shareholding by 77.54%, and the base cost of your mmO2 shares is calculated by multiplying the acquisition cost of your BT shareholding by 22.46%.

Dividends

  • BT Group’s dividends are usually paid twice yearly, in February and September (see dates and payments for past dividends).

    Details of dividends are first given in BT Group's half-year and year-end financial results announced in November and May, respectively.

  • Details of forthcoming dividends are generally announced in November and May with BT Group’s half-year and year-end financial results (see above).  The Shareholder Helpline will be able to give you the dividend information after these dates.

  • The easiest way to provide your bank or building society account details is via your Shareview Portfolio.

    If you don’t provide valid bank details by the publicised record dates for dividends, you will not receive your cash dividends and you may be charged a fee for their release. You will not be paid interest on cash balances.

    For more information on receiving dividend payments to UK and overseas bank accounts.  

  • Yes. BT Group has a dividend investment plan that allows shareholders to obtain additional BT Group shares instead of receiving cash dividends. Since shares are bought in the market, rather than issued from unissued share capital, there is a charge of 1.5% (minimum £2.50) of the amount used to buy the shares. There is also a charge of 0.5% stamp duty reserve tax.

    Full details of how you can elect to receive shares instead of cash dividends are given in the documents on the dividend investment plan page.

  • The easiest way to provide your bank or building society account details is via your Shareview Portfolio.

    For more information on receiving dividend payments to UK and overseas bank accounts. 

  • Residents in the UK or the European Economic Area (“EEA”) can join. If you are a resident outside the UK or EEA, you may take part in the Plan provided you are not subject to regulations that would oblige EQ or BT Group to comply with any governmental or regulatory procedures or similar formalities. You are responsible for making sure you can validly take part and for complying with all necessary formalities.

    The Plan is not available to private shareholders in the United States, Canada, China, India and Pakistan due to governmental/regulatory obligations in those jurisdictions. Institutional investors wishing to offer the Plan to underlying investors resident in the US, Canada, China, India and Pakistan should seek legal advice to satisfy themselves that they have the necessary permissions to meet all the necessary governmental/regulatory obligations in these jurisdictions. EQ will cancel your participation in the Plan if it reasonably believes you are not eligible to participate in the Plan.

    See full details on Dividend reinvestment. 

  • If your registered address has changed, please let EQ know, so they can update your records and keep you informed about your shareholdings, company meetings and voting procedures.

    The easiest way to update your address details is via your Shareview Portfolio.

    For more information on updating your details. 

  • If you have changed your name, please let EQ know so that they have the right information registered on your shareholding.

    For more information on changing your personal details. 

  • We’re sorry to learn about the passing of the shareholder.

    If a shareholder passes away their records will need to be updated. By using the free, online Death Notification Service at www.deathnotificationservice.co.uk you can notify a number of organisations at the same time.

    Further information, including a guide on what to do when a shareholder passes away and the services that can support you, is available from www.shareview.info/bereavement.

UK Individual Capital Gains Tax (CGT) & your BT Shares

Nothing on this page can be read as financial advice, nor should the information on this page be relied on for tax purposes. No-one at BT or EQ can give you any financial advice or advice in respect of CGT. If you are in any doubt about CGT, you should consult a suitably authorised financial adviser.

  • CGT is a tax on the profit or gain you make when you sell, or otherwise dispose of, an asset such as shares. General information about CGT is available on the HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) website.

    You can also find general information about shares and UK CGT on the HMRC website.

  • If you decide to sell assets such as shares, you may have to pay CGT if the gain you make (the positive difference between the cost of the asset (for CGT purposes) and the proceeds you receive on sale), together with any other CGT chargeable gains that you make in the same tax year, is greater than the CGT Annual Exempt Amount of £3,000 for 2024/25.

    A liability to CGT can also arise if you give assets such as shares away. The gain is calculated by deducting the cost of the asset (for CGT purposes) from the market value at the time of disposal. This is a complex area and you are strongly advised to seek suitably authorised financial and tax advice.

  • You need to:

    1. Work out the gain or loss. You need to identify which BT shares you sold to work out how much they cost for CGT purposes (the CGT base cost) and there are strict identification rules to be followed. You can find details and examples on the HMRC website. 

    2. Add together any other capital gains and take away any capital losses in the same tax year

    3. Deduct your tax-free allowance (£3,000 for 2024/25)

    4. Work out the tax due on any gains that remain.

  • You can find more information about the rate of CGT here. 

  • It is your own responsibility to retain sufficient information for past share transactions to satisfy any tax obligations (such as contract notes; tax vouchers etc).

    Please note that the BT share register managed by Equiniti does not include details of purchase prices for shares, as people can buy BT shares from many sources with different prices and they do not inform Equiniti, BT’s share registrar of the purchase prices.

  • You can find the market value of shares at given dates.

    Corporate transactions in BT’s history will affect how CGT is calculated. The latest corporate transaction was the demerger of mmO2 in November 2001. Further details can be found our listing history information. 

    Further information for BT employees and ex-employees who are subject to UK income tax and acquired shares through BT UK employee share plans.

    • directshare/yourshare/allshare shares are not included in the CGT pool while they are in the plan. If sold direct from the plan, they are CGT free but if they are transferred out of the plan into eg EasyShare they become part of the pool (at the point of transfer) and the CGT base cost is the market value of the shares (at the point of transfer)
    • For unapproved options (this only applies to participants in BT’s Share Incentive Award (SIA) and Global Share Option Plan (GSOP)), the CGT base cost for the identification rules above is the market value at exercise (ie the price paid plus the amount charged to income tax)
    • Executive share plan (eg ISP, RSP and DBP) shares are subject to income tax on vesting, so the CGT base cost for the identification rules above is normally the amount charged to income tax on vesting (ie the market value of the shares on vesting)
    • The BT Employee Share Ownership Scheme (ESOS) 1984 - 2001 – the CGT base cost of the shares for the identification rules above is the initial market value of the shares. You can view the history of BT’s ESOS scheme .

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