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Capital gain definition

What does Capital gain mean? Capital gain describes the profit realised when an asset is disposed of for more than its acquisition or base cost, after deducting allowable costs (for example, incidental acquisition and disposal expenses and qualifying enhancement expenditure). It arises on a disposal, not merely from an increase in value; an unrealised capital gain is a paper gain that would crystallise only if a disposal occurs. The opposite outcome is a capital loss. In practice, disposals include sales, gifts, part disposals and certain reorganisations. The concept is used across transactional, private client and corporate tax work because the timing, valuation and structure...

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Corporate capital gains degrouping (UK): TCGA 1992 s 179—anti-avoidance, SSE interaction, share disposals/reconstructions, subgroup exceptions, just and reasonable reductions, reallocation, takeovers, mergers/demergers, liquidation, non-residents

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Practice notes
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Capital gains—intra-group asset transfers

Companies within a single capital gains group can shift assets among themselves without incurring corporation tax on chargeable gains (CGT), see Practice Note: Capital gains—intra-group asset transfers. To stop groups exploiting these reliefs to sidestep tax when disposing of assets that would otherwise trigger a substantial CGT charge, anti-avoidance rules are necessary. Rather than selling the asset outright, a group could pass it internally—probably to a company formed specifically for that purpose—and then dispose of the shares in that company. This device is commonly called the envelope trick and is outlined in more detail below. The statutory rules that block use of the envelope trick are the degrouping rules, set out in section 179 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 (TCGA 1992). The capital gains degrouping provisions can apply even where no avoidance is intended in practice. There is a possibility they may operate without the relevant companies being aware (until after the transaction). This is especially the case because the rules can take effect up to six years after an intra-group transfer has occurred (see below), often long after the event...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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