Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 section 26A

Transfer of dormant bank or building society account

Section 26A ensures that when a dormant asset (such as a bank or building society account) is transferred to an authorised reclaim fund under the dormant assets scheme, the transfer has no capital gains tax consequences for the account holder.

• When a financial institution transfers a dormant asset to an authorised reclaim fund (or to such a fund and one or more charities), the transfer is not treated as a disposal or acquisition for capital gains tax purposes.
• The account holder's rights to reclaim the funds after the transfer are treated as the same asset as their original rights, preserving the original acquisition details and characteristics for CGT purposes.
• The section covers dormant assets transferred under both the Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Act 2008 and the Dormant Assets Act 2022, which extended the scheme to a wider range of financial products.
• The practical effect is that no chargeable gain or allowable loss arises solely because a dormant account has been transferred into the reclaim fund scheme, and the account holder's CGT position is preserved as if the transfer had never happened.