How to buy shares for my child in their name

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    Hi,

    I'd like to buy some shares for our son, so that he can learn about shares when he's older, and also so he can enjoy the benefits of long-term compounding of dividend re-investment (He's almost 1 now, so 17 years of compounding until he turns 18).

    I have asked Westpac, and they don't let you trade shares in a child's name. (I have read that commsec doesn't allow this either). The banker we spoke to talked to one of their BT advisors and suggested we buy shares for him in our own account. After doing some research it turns out this is stupid advice because we'd have a capital gains tax event if we wanted to transfer the shares to him upon turning 18. Good one westpac.

    Is it possible to buy shares for our son without incurring CGT when he takes ownership of the shares? Is there an online broker that makes that easy?

    Thanks.
 
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