Ask an expert: De-grouping charges and schemes of reconstruction

Question

My client is planning to carry out a liquidation demerger in which a company’s existing subsidiaries are to be transferred to two new companies under a scheme of reconstruction. One of the subsidiaries holds an asset transferred to it under TCGA 1992 s 171 in the past six years. How do the de-grouping rules at s 179 as amended by last year’s Finance Act apply to this scenario? 

Answer

New sub-ss (3A)–(3F) have been added to s 179. These apply in situations where the company suffering the de-grouping charge leaves the group in consequence of a disposal of shares in that company or another member of the group. The disposal of the shares needs...