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Part III General Provisions relating to computation of gains and acquisitions and disposals of assets

I Introductory

15 Computation of gains

(1) The amount of the gains accruing on the disposal of assets shall be computed in accordance with this Part, subject to the other provisions of this Act.

(2) Every gain shall, except as otherwise expressly provided, be a chargeable gain.

16 Computation of losses

(1) Subject to section 72 of the [1991 c. 31.] Finance Act 1991 and except as otherwise expressly provided, the amount of a loss accruing on a disposal of an asset shall be computed in the same way as the amount of a gain accruing on a disposal is computed.

(2) Except as otherwise expressly provided, all the provisions of this Act which distinguish gains which are chargeable gains from those which are not, or which make part of a gain a chargeable gain, and part not, shall apply also to distinguish losses which are allowable losses from those which are not, and to make part of a loss an allowable loss, and part not; and references in this Act to an allowable loss shall be construed accordingly.

(3) A loss accruing to a person in a year of assessment during no part of which he is resident or ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom shall not be an allowable loss for the purposes of this Act unless, under section 10, he would be chargeable to tax in respect of a chargeable gain if there had been a gain instead of a loss on that occasion.

(4) In accordance with section 12(1), losses accruing on the disposal of assets situated outside the United Kingdom to an individual resident or ordinarily resident but not domiciled in the United Kingdom shall not be allowable losses.

17 Disposals and acquisitions treated as made at market value

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, a person’s acquisition or disposal of an asset shall for the purposes of this Act be deemed to be for a consideration equal to the market value of the asset—

(a) where he acquires or, as the case may be, disposes of the asset otherwise than by way of a bargain made at arm’s length, and in particular where he acquires or disposes of it by way of gift or on a transfer into settlement by a settlor or by way of distribution from a company in respect of shares in the company, or

(b) where he acquires or, as the case may be, disposes of the asset wholly or partly for a consideration that cannot be valued, or in connection with his own or another’s loss of office or employment or diminution of emoluments, or otherwise in consideration for or recognition of his or another’s services or past services in any office or employment or of any other service rendered or to be rendered by him or another.

(2) Subsection (1) shall not apply to the acquisition of an asset if—

(a) there is no corresponding disposal of it, and

(b) there is no consideration in money or money’s worth or the consideration is of an amount or value lower than the market value of the asset.

18 Transactions between connected persons

(1) This section shall apply where a person acquires an asset and the person making the disposal is connected with him.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of section 17(1) the person acquiring the asset and the person making the disposal shall be treated as parties to a transaction otherwise than by way of a bargain made at arm’s length.

(3) Subject to subsection (4) below, if on the disposal a loss accrues to the person making the disposal, it shall not be deductible except from a chargeable gain accruing to him on some other disposal of an asset to the person acquiring the asset mentioned in subsection (1) above, being a disposal made at a time when they are connected persons.

(4) Subsection (3) above shall not apply to a disposal by way of gift in settlement if the gift and the income from it is wholly or primarily applicable for educational, cultural or recreational purposes, and the persons benefiting from the application for those purposes are confined to members of an association of persons for whose benefit the gift was made, not being persons all or most of whom are connected persons.

(5) Where the asset mentioned in subsection (1) above is an option to enter into a sale or other transaction given by the person making the disposal a loss accruing to the person acquiring the asset shall not be an allowable loss unless it accrues on a disposal of the option at arm’s length to a person who is not connected with him.

(6) Subject to subsection (7) below, in a case where the asset mentioned in subsection (1) above is subject to any right or restriction enforceable by the person making the disposal, or by a person connected with him, then (where the amount of the consideration for the acquisition is, in accordance with subsection (2) above, deemed to be equal to the market value of the asset) that market value shall be—

(a) what its market value would be if not subject to the right or restriction, minus—

(b) the market value of the right or restriction or the amount by which its extinction would enhance the value of the asset to its owner, whichever is the less.

(7) If the right or restriction is of such a nature that its enforcement would or might effectively destroy or substantially impair the value of the asset without bringing any countervailing advantage either to the person making the disposal or a person connected with him or is an option or other right to acquire the asset or, in the case of incorporeal property, is a right to extinguish the asset in the hands of the person giving the consideration by forfeiture or merger or otherwise, the market value of the asset shall be determined, and the amount of the gain accruing on the disposal shall be computed, as if the right or restriction did not exist.

(8) Subsections (6) and (7) above shall not apply to a right of forfeiture or other right exercisable on breach of a covenant contained in a lease of land or other property, and shall not apply to any right or restriction under a mortgage or other charge.

19 Deemed consideration in certain cases where assets disposed of in a series of transactions

(1) For the purposes of this Act, in any case where—

(a) by way of 2 or more material transactions which are linked (a series of linked transactions), one person disposes of assets to another person with whom he is connected or to 2 or more other persons with each of whom he is connected, and

(b) the original market value of the assets disposed of by any of the transactions in the series, as determined under section 20, is less than the appropriate portion of the aggregate market value of the assets disposed of by all the transactions in the series, as so determined,

then, subject to subsection (2) below, the disposal effected by any linked transaction in the series in respect of which the condition in paragraph (b) above is fulfilled shall be deemed to be for a consideration equal to the appropriate portion referred to in that paragraph.

(2) Where the disposal effected by a material transaction is one to which section 58 applies, nothing in subsection (1) above shall affect the amount which, for the purposes of this Act, is the consideration for that disposal.

(3) Subject to subsection (5) below, any reference in this section to a material transaction is a reference to a transaction by way of gift or otherwise; and, for the purposes of this section, 2 or more material transactions are linked if they occur within the period of 6 years ending on the date of the last of them.

(4) This section shall apply or, as the case may be, shall again apply—

(a) when a second material transaction causes a series of linked transactions to come into being; and

(b) whenever, on the occurrence of a further material transaction, an existing series is extended by the inclusion of that transaction (whether or not an earlier transaction ceases to form part of the series);

and all such assessments and adjustments of assessments shall be made as may be necessary to give effect to this section on each such occasion.

(5) Where a member of a group of companies disposes of an asset to another member of the group in circumstances such that, by virtue of section 171, both companies are treated, so far as relates to corporation tax on chargeable gains, as if the consideration for the disposal were of such an amount as would secure that neither a gain nor a loss would accrue, the transaction by which that disposal is effected is not a material transaction; and a disposal in these circumstances is in this section referred to as an “inter-group transfer”.

(6) In any case where—

(a) a company (“company A”) disposes of an asset by way of a material transaction, and

(b) company A acquired the asset after 19th March 1985 by way of an inter-group transfer, and

(c) the disposal by company A is to a person who is connected with another company (“company B”) which at some time after 19th March 1985 disposed of the asset by way of an inter-group transfer, and

(d) either the disposal by way of inter-group transfer which is referred to in paragraph (c) above was the occasion of the acquisition referred to in paragraph (b) above or, between that disposal and that acquisition, there has been no disposal of the asset which was not an inter-group transfer,

then, for the purpose of determining whether subsection (1) above applies in relation to a series of linked transactions, the disposal by company A shall be treated as having been made by company B; but any increase in the consideration for that disposal resulting from the application of subsection (1) above shall have effect with respect to company A.

20 Original market value and aggregate market value for purposes of section 19

(1) This section has effect for determining the original market value of assets and the aggregate market value of assets as mentioned in subsection (1)(b) of section 19.

(2) Expressions used in this section have the same meaning as in that section.

(3) Where there is a series of linked transactions, the original market value of the assets disposed of by each transaction in the series shall be determined as follows—

(a) if at the time in question the transaction is the most recent in the series, the original market value of the assets disposed of by that transaction is the market value which, apart from section 19, would be deemed to be the consideration for that transaction for the purposes of this Act; and

(b) in the case of any other transaction in the series, the original market value of the assets disposed of by that transaction is the value which, prior to the occurrence of the most recent transaction in the series, was or would have been deemed for the purposes of this Act to be the consideration for the transaction concerned (whether by virtue of the previous operation of section 19, or by virtue of any other provision of this Act).

(4) Subject to subsections (6) to (9) below, in relation to any transaction in a series of linked transactions—

(a) any reference in this section or section 19 to the aggregate market value of the assets disposed of by all the transactions in the series is a reference to what would have been the market value of all those assets for the purposes of this Act if, considering all the assets together, they had been disposed of by one disposal occurring at the time of the transaction concerned; and

(b) any reference in section 19 to the appropriate portion of the aggregate market value of the assets disposed of by all the transactions in the series is a reference to that portion of the market value determined in accordance with paragraph (a) above which it is reasonable to apportion to those of the assets which were actually disposed of by the transaction concerned.

(5) The reference in subsection (4)(a) above to considering all the assets together includes a reference not only to considering them as a group or holding or collection of assets retaining their separate identities but also (if it gives a higher market value) to considering them as brought together, physically or in law, so as to constitute either a single asset or a number of assets which are distinct from those which were comprised in each of the transactions concerned.

(6) If any of the assets disposed of by all the transactions in a series of linked transactions were acquired after the time of the first of those transactions, then, in the application of subsections (4) and (5) above in relation to each of the transactions in the series—

(a) no account shall be taken of any assets which were acquired after the time of that transaction unless they were acquired by way of an inter-group transfer; and

(b) subject to subsection (7) below, the number of assets of which account is to be taken shall be limited to the maximum number which were held by the person making the disposal at any time in the period beginning immediately before the first of the transactions in the series and ending immediately before the last.

(7) If, before the first of the transactions referred to in paragraph (b) of subsection (6) above, the person concerned (being a company) disposed of any assets by way of an inter-group transfer, the maximum number of assets referred to in that paragraph shall be determined as if the inter-group transfer had occurred after that first transaction.

(8) In the application of subsection (6) above in a case where the assets disposed of are securities, the assets disposed of by any of the transactions in a series of linked transactions shall be identified with assets acquired on an earlier date rather than with assets acquired on a later date.

(9) In subsection (8) above “securities” includes any assets which are of a nature to be dealt in without identifying the particular assets disposed of or acquired.

II Assets and disposals of assets

General provisions

21 Assets and disposals

(1) All forms of property shall be assets for the purposes of this Act, whether situated in the United Kingdom or not, including—

(a) options, debts and incorporeal property generally, and

(b) any currency other than sterling, and

(c) any form of property created by the person disposing of it, or otherwise coming to be owned without being acquired.

(2) For the purposes of this Act—

(a) references to a disposal of an asset include, except where the context otherwise requires, references to a part disposal of an asset, and

(b) there is a part disposal of an asset where an interest or right in or over the asset is created by the disposal, as well as where it subsists before the disposal, and generally, there is a part disposal of an asset where, on a person making a disposal, any description of property derived from the asset remains undisposed of.

22 Disposal where capital sums derived from assets

(1) Subject to sections 23 and 26(1), and to any other exceptions in this Act, there is for the purposes of this Act a disposal of assets by their owner where any capital sum is derived from assets notwithstanding that no asset is acquired by the person paying the capital sum, and this subsection applies in particular to—

(a) capital sums received by way of compensation for any kind of damage or injury to assets or for the loss, destruction or dissipation of assets or for any depreciation or risk of depreciation of an asset,

(b) capital sums received under a policy of insurance of the risk of any kind of damage or injury to, or the loss or depreciation of, assets,

(c) capital sums received in return for forfeiture or surrender of rights, or for refraining from exercising rights, and

(d) capital sums received as consideration for use or exploitation of assets.

(2) In the case of a disposal within paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (d) of subsection (1) above, the time of the disposal shall be the time when the capital sum is received as described in that subsection.

(3) In this section “capital sum” means any money or money’s worth which is not excluded from the consideration taken into account in the computation of the gain.

23 Receipt of compensation and insurance money not treated as a disposal

(1) If the recipient so claims, receipt of a capital sum within paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (d) of section 22(1) derived from an asset which is not lost or destroyed shall not be treated for the purposes of this Act as a disposal of the asset if—

(a) the capital sum is wholly applied in restoring the asset, or

(b) (subject to subsection (2) below), the capital sum is applied in restoring the asset except for a part of the capital sum which is not reasonably required for the purpose and which is small as compared with the whole capital sum, or

(c) (subject to subsection (2) below), the amount of the capital sum is small, as compared with the value of the asset,

but, if the receipt is not treated as a disposal, all sums which would, if the receipt had been so treated, have been brought into account as consideration for that disposal in the computation of the gain shall be deducted from any expenditure allowable under Chapter III of this Part as a deduction in computing a gain on the subsequent disposal of the asset.

(2) If the allowable expenditure is less than the consideration for the disposal constituted by the receipt of the capital sum (or is nil)—

(a) paragraphs (b) and (c) of subsection (1) above shall not apply, and

(b) if the recipient so elects (and there is any allowable expenditure)—

(i) the amount of the consideration for the disposal shall be reduced by the amount of the allowable expenditure, and

(ii) none of that expenditure shall be allowable as a deduction in computing a gain accruing on the occasion of the disposal or any subsequent occasion.

In this subsection “allowable expenditure” means expenditure which, immediately before the disposal, was attributable to the asset under paragraphs (a) and (b) of section 38(1).

(3) If, in a case not falling within subsection (1)(b) above, a part of a capital sum within paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of section 22(1) derived from an asset which is not lost or destroyed is applied in restoring the asset, then if the recipient so claims, that part of the capital sum shall not be treated as consideration for the disposal deemed to be effected on receipt of the capital sum but shall be deducted from any expenditure allowable under Chapter III of this Part as a deduction in computing a gain on the subsequent disposal of the asset.

(4) If an asset is lost or destroyed and a capital sum received by way of compensation for the loss or destruction, or under a policy of insurance of the risk of the loss or destruction, is within one year of receipt, or such longer period as the inspector may allow, applied in acquiring an asset in replacement of the asset lost or destroyed the owner shall if he so claims be treated for the purposes of this Act—

(a) as if the consideration for the disposal of the old asset were (if otherwise of a greater amount) of such amount as would secure that on the disposal neither a gain nor a loss accrues to him, and

(b) as if the amount of the consideration for the acquisition of the new asset were reduced by the excess of the amount of the capital sum received by way of compensation or under the policy of insurance, together with any residual or scrap value, over the amount of the consideration which he is treated as receiving under paragraph (a) above.

(5) A claim shall not be made under subsection (4) above if part only of the capital sum is applied in acquiring the new asset but if all of that capital sum except for a part which is less than the amount of the gain (whether all chargeable gain or not) accruing on the disposal of the old asset is so applied, then the owner shall if he so claims be treated for the purposes of this Act—

(a) as if the amount of the gain so accruing were reduced to the amount of the said part (and, if not all chargeable gain, with a proportionate reduction in the amount of the chargeable gain), and

(b) as if the amount of the consideration for the acquisition of the new asset were reduced by the amount by which the gain is reduced under paragraph (a) of this subsection.

(6) This section shall not apply in relation to a wasting asset.

24 Disposals where assets lost or destroyed, or become of negligible value

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act and, in particular to section 144, the occasion of the entire loss, destruction, dissipation or extinction of an asset shall, for the purposes of this Act, constitute a disposal of the asset whether or not any capital sum by way of compensation or otherwise is received in respect of the destruction, dissipation or extinction of the asset.

(2) If, on a claim by the owner of an asset, the inspector is satisfied that the value of an asset has become negligible, he may allow the claim and thereupon this Act shall have effect as if the claimant had sold, and immediately reacquired, the asset for a consideration of an amount equal to the value specified in the claim.

(3) For the purposes of subsections (1) and (2) above, a building and any permanent or semi-permanent structure in the nature of a building may be regarded as an asset separate from the land on which it is situated, but where either of those subsections applies in accordance with this subsection, the person deemed to make the disposal of the building or structure shall be treated as if he had also sold, and immediately reacquired, the site of the building or structure (including in the site any land occupied for purposes ancillary to the use of the building or structure) for a consideration equal to its market value at that time.

25 Non-residents: deemed disposals

(1) Where an asset ceases by virtue of becoming situated outside the United Kingdom to be a chargeable asset in relation to a person, he shall be deemed for all purposes of this Act—

(a) to have disposed of the asset immediately before the time when it became situated outside the United Kingdom, and

(b) immediately to have reacquired it,

at its market value at that time.

(2) Subsection (1) above does not apply—

(a) where the asset becomes situated outside the United Kingdom contemporaneously with the person there mentioned ceasing to carry on a trade in the United Kingdom through a branch or agency, or

(b) where the asset is an exploration or exploitation asset.

(3) Where an asset ceases to be a chargeable asset in relation to a person by virtue of his ceasing to carry on a trade in the United Kingdom through a branch or agency, he shall be deemed for all purposes of this Act—

(a) to have disposed of the asset immediately before the time when he ceased to carry on the trade in the United Kingdom through a branch or agency, and

(b) immediately to have reacquired it,

at its market value at that time.

(4) Subsection (3) above shall not apply to an asset by reason of a transfer of the whole or part of the long term business of an insurance company to another company if section 139 has effect in relation to the asset by virtue of section 211.

(5) Subsection (3) above does not apply to an asset which is a chargeable asset in relation to the person there mentioned at any time after he ceases to carry on the trade in the United Kingdom through a branch or agency and before the end of the chargeable period in which he does so.

(6) In this section—

  • “exploration or exploitation asset” means an asset used in connection with exploration or exploitation activities carried on in the United Kingdom or a designated area, and

  • “designated area” and “exploration or exploitation activities” have the same meanings as in section 276.

(7) For the purposes of this section an asset is at any time a chargeable asset in relation to a person if, were it to be disposed of at that time, any chargeable gains accruing to him on the disposal—

(a) would be gains in respect of which he would be chargeable to capital gains tax under section 10(1), or

(b) would form part of his chargeable profits for corporation tax purposes by virtue of section 10(3).

(8) This section shall apply as if references to a trade included references to a profession or vocation.

26 Mortgages and charges not to be treated as disposals

(1) The conveyance or transfer by way of security of an asset or of an interest or right in or over it, or transfer of a subsisting interest or right by way of security in or over an asset (including a retransfer on redemption of the security), shall not be treated for the purposes of this Act as involving any acquisition or disposal of the asset.

(2) Where a person entitled to an asset by way of security or to the benefit of a charge or incumbrance on an asset deals with the asset for the purpose of enforcing or giving effect to the security, charge or incumbrance, his dealings with it shall be treated for the purposes of this Act as if they were done through him as nominee by the person entitled to it subject to the security, charge or incumbrance; and this subsection shall apply to the dealings of any person appointed to enforce or give effect to the security, charge or incumbrance as receiver and manager or judicial factor as it applies to the dealings of the person entitled as aforesaid.

(3) An asset shall be treated as having been acquired free of any interest or right by way of security subsisting at the time of any acquisition of it, and as being disposed of free of any such interest or right subsisting at the time of the disposal; and where an asset is acquired subject to any such interest or right the full amount of the liability thereby assumed by the person acquiring the asset shall form part of the consideration for the acquisition and disposal in addition to any other consideration.

27 Disposals in cases of hire-purchase and similar transactions

A hire-purchase or other transaction under which the use and enjoyment of an asset is obtained by a person for a period at the end of which the property in the asset will or may pass to that person shall be treated for the purposes of this Act, both in relation to that person and in relation to the person from whom he obtains the use and enjoyment of the asset, as if it amounted to an entire disposal of the asset to that person at the beginning of the period for which he obtains the use and enjoyment of the asset, but subject to such adjustments of tax, whether by way of repayment or discharge of tax or otherwise, as may be required where the period for which that person has the use and enjoyment of the asset terminates without the property in the asset passing to him.

28 Time of disposal and acquisition where asset disposed of under contract

(1) Subject to section 22(2), and subsection (2) below, where an asset is disposed of and acquired under a contract the time at which the disposal and acquisition is made is the time the contract is made (and not, if different, the time at which the asset is conveyed or transferred).

(2) If the contract is conditional (and in particular if it is conditional on the exercise of an option) the time at which the disposal and acquisition is made is the time when the condition is satisfied.

Value shifting

29 General provisions

(1) Without prejudice to the generality of the provisions of this Act as to the transactions which are disposals of assets, any transaction which under the following subsections is to be treated as a disposal of an asset—

(a) shall be so treated (with a corresponding acquisition of an interest in the asset) notwithstanding that there is no consideration, and

(b) so far as, on the assumption that the parties to the transaction were at arm’s length, the party making the disposal could have obtained consideration, or additional consideration, for the disposal, shall be treated as not being at arm’s length and the consideration so obtainable, or the additional consideration so obtainable added to the consideration actually passing, shall be treated as the market value of what is acquired.

(2) If a person having control of a company exercises his control so that value passes out of shares in the company owned by him or a person with whom he is connected, or out of rights over the company exercisable by him or by a person with whom he is connected, and passes into other shares in or rights over the company, that shall be a disposal of the shares or rights out of which the value passes by the person by whom they were owned or exercisable.

(3) A loss on the disposal of an asset shall not be an allowable loss to the extent to which it is attributable to value having passed out of other assets, being shares in or rights over a company which by virtue of the passing of value are treated as disposed of under subsection (2) above.

(4) If, after a transaction which results in the owner of land or of any other description of property becoming the lessee of the property there is any adjustment of the rights and liabilities under the lease, whether or not involving the grant of a new lease, which is as a whole favourable to the lessor, that shall be a disposal by the lessee of an interest in the property.

(5) If an asset is subject to any description of right or restriction the extinction or abrogation, in whole or in part, of the right or restriction by the person entitled to enforce it shall be a disposal by him of the right or restriction.

30 Tax-free benefits

(1) This section has effect as respects the disposal of an asset if a scheme has been effected or arrangements have been made (whether before or after the disposal) whereby—

(a) the value of the asset or a relevant asset has been materially reduced, and

(b) a tax-free benefit has been or will be conferred—

(i) on the person making the disposal or a person with whom he is connected, or

(ii) subject to subsection (4) below, on any other person.

(2) For the purposes of this section, where the asset disposed of by a company (“the disposing company”) consists of shares in, or securities of, another company, another asset is a relevant asset if, at the time of the disposal, it is owned by a company associated with the disposing company; but no account shall be taken of any reduction in the value of a relevant asset except in a case where—

(a) during the period beginning with the reduction in value and ending immediately before the disposal by the disposing company, there is no disposal of the asset to any person, other than a disposal falling within section 171(1),

(b) no disposal of the asset is treated as having occurred during that period by virtue of section 178 or 179, and

(c) if the reduction had not taken place but any consideration given for the relevant asset and any other material circumstances (including any consideration given before the disposal for the asset disposed of) were unchanged, the value of the asset disposed of would, at the time of the disposal, have been materially greater;

and in this subsection “securities” has the same meaning as in section 132.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (1)(b) above a benefit is conferred on a person if he becomes entitled to any money or money’s worth or the value of any asset in which he has an interest is increased or he is wholly or partly relieved from any liability to which he is subject; and a benefit is tax-free unless it is required, on the occasion on which it is conferred on the person in question, to be brought into account in computing his income, profits or gains for the purposes of income tax, capital gains tax or corporation tax.

(4) This section shall not apply by virtue of subsection (1)(b)(ii) above if it is shown that avoidance of tax was not the main purpose or one of the main purposes of the scheme or arrangements in question.

(5) Where this section has effect in relation to any disposal, any allowable loss or chargeable gain accruing on the disposal shall be calculated as if the consideration for the disposal were increased by such amount as appears to the inspector, or on appeal the Commissioners concerned, to be just and reasonable having regard to the scheme or arrangements and the tax-free benefit in question.

(6) Where—

(a) by virtue of subsection (5) above the consideration for the disposal of an asset has been treated as increased, and

(b) the benefit taken into account under subsection (1)(b) above was an increase in the value of another asset,

any allowable loss or chargeable gain accruing on the first disposal of the other asset after the increase in its value shall be calculated as if the consideration for that disposal were reduced by such amount as appears to the inspector, or on appeal the Commissioners concerned, to be just and reasonable having regard to the scheme or arrangements in question and the increase made in relation to the disposal mentioned in paragraph (a) above.

(7) References in this section to a disposal do not include references to any disposal falling within section 58(1), 62(4) or 171(1).

(8) References in this section, in relation to any disposal, to a reduction in the value of an asset, where the asset consists of shares owned by a company in another company, shall be interpreted in accordance with sections 31 to 33 and, in those sections, the disposal, the asset and those companies are referred to respectively as “the section 30 disposal”, “the principal asset”, “the first company” and “the second company”.

(9) In relation to a case in which the disposal of an asset precedes its acquisition the references in subsections (1)(a) and (2) above to a reduction shall be read as including a reference to an increase.

31 Distributions within a group followed by a disposal of shares

(1) The references in section 30 to a reduction in the value of an asset, in the case mentioned in subsection (8) of that section, do not include a reduction attributable to the payment of a dividend by the second company at a time when it and the first company are associated, except to the extent (if any) that the dividend is attributable to chargeable profits of the second company and, in such a case, the tax-free benefit shall be ascertained without regard to any part of the dividend that is not attributable to such profits.

(2) Subsections (3) to (11) below apply for the interpretation of subsection (1) above.

(3) Chargeable profits shall be ascertained as follows—

(a) the distributable profits of any company are chargeable profits of that company to the extent that they are profits arising on a transaction caught by this section, and

(b) where any company makes a distribution attributable wholly or partly to chargeable profits (including any profits that are chargeable profits by virtue of this paragraph) to another company, the distributable profits of the other company, so far as they represent that distribution or so much of it as was attributable to chargeable profits, are chargeable profits of the other company,

and for this purpose any loss or other amount to be set against the profits of a company in determining the distributable profits shall be set first against profits other than the profits so arising or, as the case may be, representing so much of the distribution as was attributable to chargeable profits.

(4) The distributable profits of a company are such profits computed on a commercial basis as, after allowing for any provision properly made for tax, the company is empowered, assuming sufficient funds, to distribute to persons entitled to participate in the profits of the company.

(5) Profits of a company (“company A”) are profits arising on a transaction caught by this section where each of the following 3 conditions is satisfied.

(6) The first condition is that the transaction is—

(a) a disposal of an asset by company A to another company in circumstances such that company A and the other company are treated as mentioned in section 171(1), or

(b) an exchange, or a transaction treated for the purposes of section 135(2) and (3) as an exchange, of shares in or debentures of a company held by company A for shares in or debentures of another company, being a company associated with company A immediately after the transaction, and is treated by virtue of section 135(3) as a reorganisation of share capital, or

(c) a revaluation of an asset in the accounting records of company A.

In the following conditions the “asset with enhanced value” means (subject to section 33), in the paragraph (a) case, the asset acquired by the person to whom the disposal is made, in the paragraph (b) case, the shares in or debentures of the other company and, in the paragraph (c) case, the revalued asset.