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Part 4Loss relief

Chapter 5Losses on disposal of shares

Share loss relief against income

68Share loss relief

(1)A company which has subscribed for shares in a qualifying trading company is eligible for relief under this Chapter (“share loss relief”) if—

(a)it incurs an allowable loss (for the purposes of corporation tax on chargeable gains) on the disposal of the shares in any accounting period, and

(b)it meets the eligibility conditions (see section 69).

(2)Subsection (1) applies only if the disposal of the shares is—

(a)by way of a bargain made at arm’s length,

(b)by way of a distribution in the course of dissolving or winding up the qualifying trading company,

(c)a disposal within section 24(1) of TCGA 1992 (entire loss, destruction, dissipation or extinction of asset), or

(d)a deemed disposal under section 24(2) of that Act (claim that value of the asset has become negligible).

(3)Subsection (1) does not apply to any allowable loss incurred on the disposal if—

(a)the shares are the subject of an exchange or arrangement of the kind mentioned in section 135 or 136 of TCGA 1992 (company reconstructions etc), and

(b)because of section 137 of that Act, the exchange or arrangement involves a disposal of the shares.

(4)For the meaning of “qualifying trading company”, see section 78.

69Eligibility conditions

(1)These are the eligibility conditions mentioned in section 68(1)(b) that a company which has subscribed for shares in a qualifying trading company must meet to be eligible for share loss relief on the disposal of the shares.

(2)Condition A is that the subscribing company (“the investor”) is an investment company on the date of the disposal of the shares (“the disposal date”).

(3)Condition B is that the investor has been an investment company—

(a)for a continuous period of 6 years ending on the disposal date, or

(b)for a shorter continuous period ending on the disposal date and has not before the beginning of that period been a trading company or an excluded company (see section 90(1)).

(4)Condition C is that the investor was not associated with, or a member of the same group as, the qualifying trading company at any time during the period—

(a)beginning with the date when the investor subscribed for the shares, and

(b)ending with the disposal date.

(5)For the purposes of condition C, two companies are associated with each other if—

(a)one controls the other, or

(b)both are under the control of the same person or persons.

(6)Sections 450 and 451 (which contain provision as to when a person is to be taken to have control of a company) apply for the purposes of subsection (5).

70Entitlement to claim

(1)This section applies where a company is eligible for share loss relief.

(2)The company may make a claim for the loss to be deducted in calculating for corporation tax purposes the company’s income—

(a)for the accounting period in which the loss is incurred, and

(b)if the claim so requires, for previous accounting periods so far as they fall (wholly or partly) within the period of 12 months ending immediately before the beginning of the accounting period in which the loss is incurred.

(3)The company may make a claim under subsection (2)(b) for any accounting period only if the company was an investment company throughout that period.

(4)A claim for share loss relief must be made before the end of the period of two years after the end of the accounting period in which the loss is incurred.

71How relief works

(1)This subsection explains how deductions in respect of share loss relief claimed by a company under section 70 are to be made.

(2)The amount of a deduction to be made at Step 2 for any accounting period is the amount of the loss so far as it cannot be deducted under subsection (1) for a subsequent accounting period.

(3)Subsection (1) is subject to sections 72, 74(5) and 75 (which set limits on the amount of share loss relief that may be obtained in particular cases).

(4)A deduction at Step 2 from the income of an accounting period may be made only after all other deductions have been made from the income for that period in respect of share loss relief given for an earlier loss.

(5)Deductions made on the basis of relief claimed under Part 7 of Schedule 15 to FA 2000 (relief for losses on disposal of shares to which investment relief is attributable) must, in accordance with paragraph 70 of that Schedule, be made before making deductions for share loss relief.

(6)A claim for share loss relief does not affect any claim for a deduction under TCGA 1992 for so much of the allowable loss as is not deducted under subsection (1).

72Limit on deduction if accounting period falls partly within 12 month period

(1)This section applies if an accounting period falls partly within the period of 12 months ending immediately before the beginning of the accounting period in which the loss is incurred.

(2)The amount of the deduction under Step 2 in section 71(1) for the accounting period is not to exceed an amount equal to the overlapping proportion of the company’s income of that period.

(3)The overlapping proportion is the same as the proportion that the part of the accounting period falling within the 12 month period mentioned in subsection (1) bears to the whole of the accounting period.

Shares: subscription and disposal

73Subscription for shares

(1)This section has effect for the purposes of this Chapter.

(2)A company subscribes for shares in another company if they are issued to the company by the other company in consideration of money or money’s worth.

(3)If—

(a)a company has subscribed for, or is treated under this subsection as having subscribed for, any shares, and

(b)any corresponding bonus shares are subsequently issued to the company,

the company is treated as having subscribed for the bonus shares.

(4)If—

(a)a company subscribed for any shares (“the original shares”) on a particular date, and

(b)any corresponding bonus shares are treated as having been subscribed for by the company under subsection (3),

the company is treated as having subscribed for the bonus shares on that date.

74Disposals of new shares

(1)This section applies if—

(a)a company disposes of shares (“the new shares”), and

(b)the new shares are, by virtue of section 127 of TCGA 1992 (reorganisation etc treated as not involving disposal), identified with other shares (“the old shares”) previously held by the company.

(2)The company is not eligible for share loss relief on the disposal of the new shares unless condition A or B is met.

This is subject to section 87(3).

(3)Condition A is that the company would have been eligible for share loss relief on a disposal of the old shares—

(a)if the company had incurred an allowable loss in disposing of them by way of a bargain made at arm’s length on the occasion of the disposal that would have occurred but for section 127 of TCGA 1992, and

(b)where applicable, if this Chapter had then been in force.

(4)Condition B is that the company gave for the new shares consideration in money or money’s worth other than consideration of the kind mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b) of section 128(2) of TCGA 1992 (“new consideration”).

(5)If the company relies on condition B, the amount of share loss relief on the disposal of the new shares must not exceed the amount or value of the new consideration taken into account as a deduction in calculating the amount of the loss incurred on the disposal.

75Limits on relief

(1)Subsection (2) applies if—

(a)a company disposes of any shares for which it has subscribed in a qualifying trading company (“qualifying shares”),

(b)those shares either—

(i)form part of a section 104 holding or a 1982 holding at the time of the disposal, or

(ii)formed part of such a holding at an earlier time, and

(c)the company makes a claim under section 70 in respect of a loss incurred on the disposal.

(2)The amount of share loss relief on the disposal is not to exceed the sums that would be allowed as deductions in calculating the amount of the loss if the qualifying shares had not formed part of the holding.

(3)Subsection (4) applies if—

(a)a company disposes of any qualifying shares,

(b)the qualifying shares, and other shares that are not capable of being qualifying shares, are for the purposes of TCGA 1992 to be treated as acquired by a single transaction by virtue of section 105(1)(a) of that Act (disposal of shares acquired on same day etc), and

(c)the company makes a claim under section 70 in respect of a loss incurred on the disposal.

(4)The amount of share loss relief on the disposal is not to exceed the sums that would be allowed as deductions in calculating the amount of the loss if—

(a)the qualifying shares were to be treated as acquired by a single transaction, and

(b)the other shares were not to be so treated.

(5)Subsection (6) applies if—

(a)a company (“the investor”) disposes of any qualifying shares,

(b)the qualifying shares (taken as a single asset), and other shares in the same company that are not capable of being qualifying shares (taken as a single asset), are for the purposes of TCGA 1992 to be treated as the same asset by virtue of section 127 of that Act (reorganisation etc treated as not involving disposal), and

(c)the investor makes a claim under section 70 in respect of a loss incurred on the disposal.

References in this subsection and subsection (6) to other shares in the same company include debentures of the same company.

(6)The amount of share loss relief on the disposal is not to exceed the sums that would be allowed as deductions in calculating the amount of the loss if the qualifying shares and the other shares in the same company were not to be treated as the same asset.

(7)In this section—

(8)For the purposes of this section and section 76, shares are not capable of being qualifying shares at any time if—

(a)the company concerned acquired the shares otherwise than by subscription,

(b)condition C in section 78(4) was not met in relation to the issue of the shares, or

(c)condition D in section 78(5) would not be met if the shares were disposed of at that time.

(9)For the purposes of subsection (5), shares are not capable of being qualifying shares at any time if they are shares of a different class from the shares mentioned in paragraph (a) of that subsection.

76Disposal of shares forming part of mixed holding

(1)This section applies if a company disposes of shares forming part of a mixed holding of shares, that is, a holding of shares in a company which includes—

(a)shares that are not capable of being qualifying shares, and

(b)other shares.

(2)Any question—

(a)whether a disposal by the company of shares forming part of the mixed holding is of qualifying shares, or

(b)as to which of any qualifying shares acquired by the company at different times such a disposal relates to,

is to be determined as provided by the following provisions of this section.

(3)Any such question as is mentioned in subsection (2) is to be determined—

(a)except in a case falling within paragraph (b)—

(i)in accordance with subsection (4), and

(ii)in the case of shares which under that subsection are identified with the whole or any part of a section 104 holding or a 1982 holding, in accordance with subsection (5),

(b)in the case of a mixed holding which includes any shares—

(i)to which investment relief is attributable under Schedule 15 to FA 2000 (corporate venturing scheme), and

(ii)which have been held continuously (within the meaning of paragraph 97 of that Schedule) from the time they were issued until the disposal,

in accordance with subsection (6).

(4)For the purposes of subsection (3)(a)(i), the question is to be determined by identifying the shares disposed of in accordance with sections 105 and 107 of TCGA 1992.

(5)For the purposes of subsection (3)(a)(ii), the question is to be determined by treating the disposal and any previous disposal by the company out of the section 104 or 1982 holding as relating to shares acquired later rather than earlier.

(6)For the purposes of subsection (3)(b), the question is to be determined—

(a)as provided by paragraph 93 of Schedule 15 to FA 2000 (identification of shares on a disposal of part of a holding where investment relief is attributable to any shares in the holding held continuously by the disposing company), but

(b)as if the references in that paragraph to a disposal had the same meaning as in the preceding provisions of this section.

(7)Any such question as is mentioned in subsection (2) which cannot be determined as provided by subsections (3) to (6) is to be determined on a just and reasonable basis.

(8)In this section “holding” means any number of shares of the same class held by one company in the same capacity, growing or diminishing as shares of that class are acquired or disposed of.

For this purpose shares are not to be treated as being of the same class unless they are so treated by the practice of a recognised stock exchange or would be so treated if dealt in on such an exchange.

(9)In this section “section 104 holding”, “1982 holding” and “qualifying shares” have the same meaning as in section 75.

77Section 76: supplementary

(1)In a case to which section 127 of TCGA 1992 (reorganisation etc treated as not involving disposal) applies (including a case where that section applies by virtue of an enactment relating to chargeable gains), shares included in the new holding are treated for the purposes of section 76 as acquired when the original shares were acquired.

(2)Any shares held or disposed of by a nominee or bare trustee for a company are treated for the purposes of section 76 as held or disposed of by that company.

(3)In this section “new holding” and “original shares” have the same meaning as in section 127 of TCGA 1992 (or, as the case may be, that section as applied by the enactment concerned).

Qualifying trading companies: the requirements

78Qualifying trading companies

(1)For the purposes of this Chapter a qualifying trading company is a company which meets each of conditions A to D.

(2)Condition A is that the company either—

(a)meets each of the following requirements on the date of the disposal—

(i)the trading requirement (see section 79),

(ii)the control and independence requirement (see section 81),

(iii)the qualifying subsidiaries requirement (see section 82), and

(iv)the property managing subsidiaries requirement (see section 83), or

(b)has ceased to meet any of those requirements at a time which is not more than 3 years before that date and has not since that time been an excluded company, an investment company or a trading company.

(3)Condition B is that the company either—

(a)has met each of the requirements mentioned in condition A for a continuous period of 6 years ending on that date or at that time, or

(b)has met each of those requirements for a shorter continuous period ending on that date or at that time and has not before the beginning of that period been an excluded company, an investment company or a trading company.

(4)Condition C is that the company—

(a)met the gross assets requirement (see section 84) both immediately before and immediately after the issue of the shares in respect of which the share loss relief is claimed, and

(b)met the unquoted status requirement (see section 85) at the relevant time within the meaning of that section.

(5)Condition D is that the company has carried on its business wholly or mainly in the United Kingdom throughout the period—

(a)beginning with the incorporation of the company or, if later, 12 months before the shares in question were issued, and

(b)ending with the date of the disposal.

79The trading requirement

(1)The trading requirement is that—

(a)the company, ignoring any incidental purposes, exists wholly for the purpose of carrying on one or more qualifying trades, or

(b)the company is a parent company and the business of the group does not consist wholly or as to a substantial part in the carrying on of non-qualifying activities.

(2)If the company intends that one or more other companies should become its qualifying subsidiaries with a view to their carrying on one or more qualifying trades—

(a)the company is treated as a parent company for the purposes of subsection (1)(b), and

(b)the reference in subsection (1)(b) to the group includes the company and any existing or future company that will be its qualifying subsidiary after the intention in question is carried into effect.

This subsection does not apply at any time after the abandonment of that intention.

(3)For the purpose of subsection (1)(b) the business of the group means what would be the business of the group if the activities of the group companies taken together were regarded as one business.

(4)For the purpose of determining the business of a group, activities are ignored so far as they are activities carried on by a mainly trading subsidiary otherwise than for its main purpose.

(5)For the purposes of determining the business of a group, activities of a group company are ignored so far as they consist in—

(a)the holding of shares in or securities of a qualifying subsidiary of the parent company,

(b)the making of loans to another group company,

(c)the holding and managing of property used by a group company for the purpose of one or more qualifying trades carried on by a group company, or

(d)the holding and managing of property used by a group company for the purpose of research and development from which it is intended—

(i)that a qualifying trade to be carried on by a group company will be derived, or

(ii)that a qualifying trade carried on or to be carried on by a group company will benefit.

(6)Any reference in subsection (5)(d)(i) or (ii) to a group company includes a reference to any existing or future company which will be a group company at any future time.

(7)In this section—

(8)In sections 189(1)(b) and 194(4)(c) of ITA 2007 (as applied by subsection (7) for the purposes of the definitions of “excluded activities” and “qualifying trade”) “period B” means the continuous period that is relevant for the purposes of section 78(3).

(9)In section 195 of ITA 2007 (as applied by subsection (7) for the purpose of the definition of “excluded activities”), references to the issuing company are to be read as references to the company mentioned in subsection (1).

80Ceasing to meet trading requirement because of administration etc

(1)A company is not regarded as ceasing to meet the trading requirement merely because of anything done in consequence of the company or any of its subsidiaries being in administration or receivership.

This has effect subject to subsections (2) and (3).

(2)Subsection (1) applies only if—

(a)the entry into administration or receivership, and

(b)everything done as a result of the company concerned being in administration or receivership,

is for genuine commercial reasons, and is not part of a scheme or arrangement the main purpose or one of the main purposes of which is the avoidance of tax.

(3)A company ceases to meet the trading requirement if before the time that is relevant for the purposes of section 78(2)—

(a)a resolution is passed, or an order is made, for the winding up of the company or any of its subsidiaries (or, in the case of a winding up otherwise than under the Insolvency Act 1986 or the Insolvency (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 (S.I. 1989/2405 (N.I. 19)), any other act is done for the like purpose), or

(b)the company or any of its subsidiaries is dissolved without winding up.

This is subject to subsection (4).

(4)Subsection (3) does not apply if —

(a)the winding up is for genuine commercial reasons, and is not part of a scheme or arrangement the main purpose or one of the main purposes of which is the avoidance of tax, and

(b)the company continues, during the winding up, to be a trading company.

(5)References in this section to a company being “in administration” or “in receivership” are to be read in accordance with section 252 of ITA 2007.

81The control and independence requirement

(1)The control element of the requirement is that—

(a)the company must not control (whether on its own or together with any person connected with it) any company which is not a qualifying subsidiary of the company, and

(b)no arrangements must be in existence by virtue of which the company could fail to meet paragraph (a) (whether at a time during the continuous period that is relevant for the purposes of section 78(3) or otherwise).

(2)The independence element of the requirement is that—

(a)the company must not—

(i)be a 51% subsidiary of another company, or

(ii)be under the control of another company (or of another company and any other person connected with that other company), without being a 51% subsidiary of that other company, and

(b)no arrangements must be in existence by virtue of which the company could fail to meet paragraph (a) (whether at a time during the continuous period that is relevant for the purposes of section 78(3) or otherwise).

(3)This section is subject to section 87(3).

(4)In this section—

82The qualifying subsidiaries requirement

(1)The qualifying subsidiaries requirement is that any subsidiary that the company has must be a qualifying subsidiary of the company.

(2)In this section “qualifying subsidiary” is to be read in accordance with section 191 of ITA 2007.

83The property managing subsidiaries requirement

(1)The property managing subsidiaries requirement is that any property managing subsidiary that the company has must be a qualifying 90% subsidiary of the company.

(2)In this section—

84The gross assets requirement

(1)The gross assets requirement in the case of a single company is that the value of the company’s gross assets—

(a)must not exceed £7 million immediately before the shares in respect of which the share loss relief is claimed are issued, and

(b)must not exceed £8 million immediately afterwards.

(2)The gross assets requirement in the case of a parent company is that the value of the group assets—

(a)must not exceed £7 million immediately before the shares in respect of which the share loss relief is claimed are issued, and

(b)must not exceed £8 million immediately afterwards.

(3)The value of the group assets means the sum of the values of the gross assets of each of the members of the group, ignoring any that consist in rights against, or shares in or securities of, another member of the group.

(4)In this section—

85The unquoted status requirement

(1)The unquoted status requirement is that, at the time (“the relevant time”) at which the shares in respect of which the share loss relief is claimed are issued—

(a)the company must be an unquoted company,

(b)there must be no arrangements in existence for the company to cease to be an unquoted company, and

(c)there must be no arrangements in existence for the company to become a subsidiary of another company (“the new company”) by virtue of an exchange of shares, or shares and securities, if—

(i)section 87 applies in relation to the exchange, and

(ii)arrangements have been made with a view to the new company ceasing to be an unquoted company.

(2)The arrangements referred to in subsection (1)(b) and (c)(ii) do not include arrangements in consequence of which any shares, stocks, debentures or other securities of the company or the new company are at any subsequent time—

(a)listed on a stock exchange that is a recognised stock exchange by virtue of an order made under section 1005(1)(b) of ITA 2007, or

(b)listed on an exchange, or dealt in by any means, designated by an order made for the purposes of section 184(3)(b) or (c) of that Act,

if the order was made after the relevant time.

(3)In this section—

86Power to amend requirements by Treasury order

The Treasury may by order make such amendments of sections 79 to 85 as they consider appropriate.

Qualifying trading companies: supplementary

87Relief after an exchange of shares for shares in another company

(1)This section and section 88 apply in relation to shares if—

(a)a company (“the new company”) in which the only issued shares are subscriber shares acquires all the shares (“old shares”) in another company (“the old company”),

(b)the consideration for the old shares consists wholly of the issue of shares (“new shares”) in the new company,

(c)the consideration for the new shares of each description consists wholly of old shares of the corresponding description,

(d)new shares of each description are issued to the holders of old shares of the corresponding description in respect of and in proportion to their holdings, and

(e)by virtue of section 127 of TCGA 1992 as applied by section 135(3) of that Act (company reconstructions etc), the exchange of shares is not to be treated as involving a disposal of the old shares or an acquisition of the new shares.

In this subsection references to shares, except the first and that in the expression “subscriber shares”, include securities.

(2)For the purposes of this Chapter the exchange of shares is not regarded as involving any disposal of the old shares or any acquisition of the new shares.

(3)Nothing in—

(a)section 74(2) (disposal of new shares), and

(b)section 81 (the control and independence requirement),

applies in relation to such an exchange of shares, or shares and securities, as is mentioned in subsection (1) or, in the case of section 81, arrangements with a view to such an exchange.

(4)For the purposes of this section old shares and new shares are of a corresponding description if, on the assumption that they were shares in the same company, they would be of the same class and carry the same rights.

(5)References in section 88 to “old shares”, “new shares”, “the old company” and “the new company” are to be read in accordance with this section.

88Substitution of new shares for old shares

(1)Subsection (2) applies if, in the case of any new shares held by a company or by a nominee for a company, the old shares for which they were exchanged were shares which had been subscribed for by the company (“the investor”).

(2)This Chapter has effect in relation to any subsequent disposal or other event as if—

(a)the new shares had been subscribed for by the investor at the time when, and for the amount for which, the old shares were subscribed for by the investor,

(b)the new shares had been issued by the new company at the time when the old shares were issued to the investor by the old company, and

(c)any requirements of this Chapter which were met at any time before the exchange by the old company had been met at that time by the new company.

(3)Nothing in subsection (2) applies in relation to section 195(7) of ITA 2007 as applied by section 79(7) above for the purpose of the definition of “excluded activities”.

89Deemed time of issue for certain shares

(1)This section applies for the purposes of the following provisions—

(2)If—

(a)any shares (“the original shares”) have been issued to a company, or are treated under this subsection as having been issued to the company at a particular time, and

(b)any corresponding bonus shares are subsequently issued to the company,

the bonus shares are treated as having been issued at the time the original shares were issued to the company or are treated as having been so issued.

Interpretation

90Interpretation of Chapter

(1)In this Chapter (subject to subsections (2) to (7))—

(2)For the purposes of the definition of “corresponding bonus shares” in subsection (1), shares are not treated as being of the same class unless they would be so treated if they were—

(a)included in the official UK list, and

(b)admitted to trading on the London Stock Exchange.

(3)Except as provided by subsection (4), paragraph (b) of the definition of shares in subsection (1) does not apply in the definition of “excluded company” in subsection (1) or in sections 75(3) to (6), (8) and (9) and 87(1) to (4).

(4)Paragraph (b) of that definition applies in relation to the first reference to “shares” in section 87(1).

(5)The definition of “shares” in subsection (1) does not apply in sections 79(5)(a), 84(3) and 85(1)(c) and (2).

(6)For the purposes of the definition of “trading group” in subsection (1), any trade carried on by a subsidiary which is an excluded company is treated as not constituting a trade.

(7)For the purposes of this Chapter a disposal of shares which results in an allowable loss for the purposes of corporation tax on chargeable gains is treated as made at the time when the disposal is made or treated as made for the purposes of TCGA 1992.