Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 section Sch 4ZZB para 6-7

Assets held at 5 April 2015: default method

Schedule 4ZZB paragraphs 6 and 7 establish the default method for calculating gains or losses on non-resident disposals of assets that were already held on 5 April 2015, by rebasing them to their market value at that date.

• When a non-resident disposes of a UK property asset that was held on 5 April 2015, the default method treats the asset as if it had been acquired on that date at its then market value.
• This rebasing approach means that only gains or losses arising after 5 April 2015 are brought into the charge to capital gains tax, effectively ignoring any increase or decrease in value before that date.
• The rebasing applies automatically unless the taxpayer elects to use an alternative method, such as a time-apportionment approach or a computation based on the full period of ownership.
• Where the default rebasing method produces neither a gain nor a loss — for example, where the disposal proceeds fall between the rebased value and the original cost — the disposal is treated as giving rise to no gain and no loss.