Chargeable gains for companies

Calculator for chargeable gains calculation


Tax on chargeable gains can be reduced, deferred or eliminated altogether by making use of available allowances, reliefs and exemptions but the rules are complicated, so take professional advice from your accountant.

Company capital gains - the basics


Common sources of capital gains are sales of premises, land or investments. Typically, other assets will be worth less than you paid for them. Disposals of intangible assets (such as intellectual property) are normally included in trading profits rather than chargeable gains, though different rules apply for older assets created or acquired before April 2002.

Company chargeable gains are based on the difference between the disposal value and the purchase cost and an allowance for inflation. The disposal value might normally be the sale price, but if an asset is not sold at arm’s length (eg if you give it away), the disposal value is the market value. Likewise, the cost is normally the purchase price or market value when you acquired the asset, though special rules apply in some circumstances.

You can deduct any expenses of buying, improving and selling the asset when working out capital gains. You then apply an indexation allowance, which reduces the gain by taking inflation into account. Use the HMRC’s chargeable gains for companies toolkit  to calculate your indexation allowance.

Company capital gains - capital losses


For example, if you bought an asset for £10,000, received capital allowances totalling £3,000 over the next few years and finally sold it for £5,000, the capital loss would only be £2,000 - the loss of £5,000 reduced by the £3,000 capital allowances.



What does the * mean?
