Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 Schedule A1 paragraph 15

Special rules for assets transferred between spouses or civil partners

Paragraph 15 of Schedule A1 sets out special rules that apply when an asset is transferred between spouses or civil partners for the purposes of calculating taper relief on any subsequent disposal of that asset.

• When an asset is transferred between spouses or civil partners on a no gain/no loss basis, the receiving spouse inherits the transferring spouse's holding period for taper relief purposes.
• The qualifying holding period for taper relief is not reset by the inter-spouse transfer — it continues to run from the date the transferring spouse originally acquired the asset.
• If the asset qualified as a business asset in the hands of the transferring spouse, that business asset status and the associated taper relief accrued up to the date of transfer carry across to the receiving spouse.
• These rules ensure that a transfer between spouses or civil partners does not disadvantage the couple by restarting or reducing the taper relief that has already built up on the asset.