Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992

Wasting assets U.K.

44 Meaning of “wasting asset". U.K.

(1) In this Chapter “wasting asset” means an asset with a predictable life not exceeding 50 years but so that—

(a) freehold land shall not be a wasting asset whatever its nature, and whatever the nature of the buildings or works on it;

(b) “life”, in relation to any tangible movable property, means useful life, having regard to the purpose for which the tangible assets were acquired or provided by the person making the disposal;

(c) plant and machinery shall in every case be regarded as having a predictable life of less than 50 years, and in estimating that life it shall be assumed that its life will end when it is finally put out of use as being unfit for further use, and that it is going to be used in the normal manner and to the normal extent and is going to be so used throughout its life as so estimated;

(d) a life interest in settled property shall not be a wasting asset until the predictable expectation of life of the life tenant is 50 years or less, and the predictable life of life interests in settled property and of annuities shall be ascertained from actuarial tables approved by the Board.

(2) In this Chapter “the residual or scrap value”, in relation to a wasting asset, means the predictable value, if any, which the wasting asset will have at the end of its predictable life as estimated in accordance with this section.

(3) The question what is the predictable life of an asset, and the question what is its predictable residual or scrap value at the end of that life, if any, shall, so far as those questions are not immediately answered by the nature of the asset, be taken, in relation to any disposal of the asset, as they were known or ascertainable at the time when the asset was acquired or provided by the person making the disposal.

45 Exemption for certain wasting assets. U.K.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, no chargeable gain shall accrue on the disposal of, or of an interest in, an asset which is tangible movable property and which is a wasting asset.

(2) Subsection (1) above shall not apply to a disposal of, or of an interest in, an asset—

(a) if, from the beginning of the period of ownership of the person making the disposal to the time when the disposal is made, the asset has been used and used solely for the purposes of a trade, profession or vocation and if that person has claimed or could have claimed any capital allowance in respect of any expenditure attributable to the asset or interest under paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of section 38(1); or

(b) if the person making the disposal has incurred any expenditure on the asset or interest which has otherwise qualified in full for any capital allowance.

(3) In the case of the disposal of, or of an interest in, an asset which, in the period of ownership of the person making the disposal, has been used partly for the purposes of a trade, profession or vocation and partly for other purposes, or has been used for the purposes of a trade, profession or vocation for part of that period, or which has otherwise qualified in part only for capital allowances—

(a) the consideration for the disposal, and any expenditure attributable to the asset or interest by virtue of section 38(1)(a) and (b), shall be apportioned by reference to the extent to which that expenditure qualified for capital allowances, and

(b) the computation of the gain shall be made separately in relation to the apportioned parts of the expenditure and consideration, and

(c) subsection (1) above shall not apply to any gain accruing by reference to the computation in relation to the part of the consideration apportioned to use for the purposes of the trade, profession or vocation, or to the expenditure qualifying for capital allowances.

[F1 (3A) But subsection (3) does not apply in the case of a disposal in relation to which subsection (3B) disapplies subsection (1).

(3B) Subsection (1) does not apply to a disposal of, or of an interest in, an asset if—

(a) at any time in the period of ownership of the person making the disposal, the asset is used for the purposes of a trade, profession or vocation carried on by another person,

(b) as a result of that use, the asset becomes plant,

(c) but for the asset therefore being regarded under section 44(1)(c) as having a predictable life of less than 50 years, the disposal would not be of, or of an interest in, a wasting asset, and

(d) the disposal is not within subsection (3C).

(3C) A disposal of, or of an interest in, an asset is within this subsection if the asset is plant used for the purpose of leasing under a long funding lease and—

(a) the disposal takes place after the commencement of the term of the lease but before the termination of the lease, or

(b) the disposal is the deemed disposal of the asset under section 25A(3)(a) on the termination of the lease.

(3D) Section 25A(5) applies for the purposes of subsection (3C).]

(4) Subsection (1) above shall not apply to a disposal of commodities of any description by a person dealing on a terminal market or dealing with or through a person ordinarily engaged in dealing on a terminal market.

Textual Amendments

F1 S. 45(3A)-(3D) inserted (with effect in accordance with s. 40(2) of the amending Act) by Finance Act 2015 (c. 11), s. 40(1)

46 Straightline restriction of allowable expenditure. U.K.

(1) In the computation of the gain accruing on the disposal of a wasting asset it shall be assumed—

(a) that any expenditure attributable to the asset under section 38(1)(a) after deducting the residual or scrap value, if any, of the asset, is written off at a uniform rate from its full amount at the time when the asset is acquired or provided to nothing at the end of its life, and

(b) that any expenditure attributable to the asset under section 38(1)(b) is written off from the full amount of that expenditure at the time when that expenditure is first reflected in the state or nature of the asset to nothing at the end of its life,

so that an equal daily amount is written off day by day.

(2) Thus, calling the predictable life of a wasting asset at the time when it was acquired or provided by the person making the disposal L, the period from that time to the time of disposal T(1), and, in relation to any expenditure attributable to the asset under section 38(1)(b), the period from the time when that expenditure is first reflected in the state or nature of the asset to the said time of disposal T(2), there shall be excluded from the computation of the gain—

(a) out of the expenditure attributable to the asset under section 38(1)(a) a fraction—

of an amount equal to the amount of that expenditure minus the residual or scrap value, if any, of the asset, and

(b) out of the expenditure attributable to the asset under section 38(1)(b) a fraction—

of the amount of the expenditure.

(3) If any expenditure attributable to the asset under section 38(1)(b) creates or increases a residual or scrap value of the asset, the provisions of subsection (1)(a) above shall be applied so as to take that into account.

47 Wasting assets qualifying for capital allowances. U.K.

(1) Section 46 shall not apply in relation to a disposal of an asset—

(a) which, from the beginning of the period of ownership of the person making the disposal to the time when the disposal is made, is used and used solely for the purposes of a trade, profession or vocation and in respect of which that person has claimed or could have claimed any capital allowance in respect of any expenditure attributable to the asset under paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of section 38(1), or

(b) on which the person making the disposal has incurred any expenditure which has otherwise qualified in full for any capital allowance.

(2) In the case of the disposal of an asset which, in the period of ownership of the person making the disposal, has been used partly for the purposes of a trade, profession or vocation and partly for other purposes, or has been used for the purposes of a trade, profession or vocation for part of that period, or which has otherwise qualified in part only for capital allowances—

(a) the consideration for the disposal, and any expenditure attributable to the asset by paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of section 38(1) shall be apportioned by reference to the extent to which that expenditure qualified for capital allowances, and

(b) the computation of the gain shall be made separately in relation to the apportioned parts of the expenditure and consideration, and

(c) section 46 shall not apply for the purposes of the computation in relation to the part of the consideration apportioned to use for the purposes of the trade, profession or vocation, or to the expenditure qualifying for capital allowances, and

(d) if an apportionment of the consideration for the disposal has been made for the purposes of making any capital allowance to the person making the disposal or for the purpose of making any balancing charge on him, that apportionment shall be employed for the purposes of this section, and

(e) subject to paragraph (d) above, the consideration for the disposal shall be apportioned for the purposes of this section in the same proportions as the expenditure attributable to the asset is apportioned under paragraph (a) above.