139Reconstruction or amalgamation involving transfer of business
(1)Subject to the provisions of this section, where—
(a)any scheme of reconstruction or amalgamation involves the transfer of the whole or part of a company’s business to another company, and
(b)at the time of the transfer both the companies are resident in the United Kingdom, and
(c)the first-mentioned company receives no part of the consideration for the transfer (otherwise than by the other company taking over the whole or part of the liabilities of the business),
then, so far as relates to corporation tax on chargeable gains, the 2 companies shall be treated as if any assets included in the transfer were acquired by the one company from the other company for a consideration of such amount as would secure that on the disposal by way of transfer neither a gain nor a loss would accrue to the company making the disposal, and for the purposes of Schedule 2 the acquiring company shall be treated as if the respective acquisitions of the assets by the other company had been the acquiring company’s acquisition of them.
(2)This section does not apply in relation to an asset which, until the transfer, formed part of trading stock of a trade carried on by the company making the disposal, or in relation to an asset which is acquired as trading stock for the purposes of a trade carried on by the company acquiring the asset.
Section 170(1) applies for the purposes of this subsection.
(3)This section does not apply in relation to an asset if the company acquiring it, though resident in the United Kingdom—
(a)is regarded for the purposes of any double taxation relief arrangements as resident in a territory outside the United Kingdom, and
(b)by virtue of the arrangements, would not be liable in the United Kingdom to tax on a gain arising on a disposal of the asset occurring immediately after the acquisition.
(4)This section does not apply in the case of a transfer of the whole or part of a company’s business to a unit trust scheme to which section 100(2) applies or which is an authorised unit trust or to an investment trust.
(5)This section does not apply unless the reconstruction or amalgamation is effected for bona fide commercial reasons and does not form part of a scheme or arrangements of which the main purpose, or one of the main purposes, is avoidance of liability to corporation tax, capital gains tax or income tax; but the foregoing provisions of this subsection shall not affect the operation of this section in any case where, before the transfer, the Board have, on the application of the acquiring company, notified the company that the Board are satisfied that the reconstruction or amalgamation will be effected for bona fide commercial reasons and will not form part of any such scheme or arrangements as aforesaid.
Subsections (2) to (5) of section 138 shall have effect in relation to this subsection as they have effect in relation to subsection (1) of that section.
(6)Where, if the company making the disposal had not been wound up, tax could have been assessed on it by virtue of subsection (5) above, that tax may be assessed and charged (in the name of the company making the disposal) on the company to which the disposal is made.
(7)If any tax assessed on a company (“the chargeable company”) by virtue of subsection (5) or (6) above is not paid within 6 months from the date when it is payable, any other person who—
(a)holds all or any part of the assets in respect of which the tax is charged; and
(b)either is the company to which the disposal was made or has acquired the assets without there having been any subsequent disposal not falling within this section or section 171,
may, within 2 years from the time when the tax became payable, be assessed and charged (in the name of the chargeable company) to all or, as the case may be, a corresponding part of the unpaid tax; and a person paying any amount of tax under this section shall be entitled to recover a sum of that amount from the chargeable company.
(8)With respect to chargeable gains accruing in chargeable periods ending after such day as the Treasury may by order appoint, in subsection (7) above—
(a)for the words “when it is payable” there shall be substituted “when it is due and payable or, if later, the date when the assessment is made on the company”;
(b)for the words “the time when the tax became payable” there shall be substituted “the later of those dates”; and
(c)for the words “a sum” onwards there shall be substituted “from the chargeable company a sum equal to that amount together with any interest paid by him under section 87A of the Management Act on that amount”.
(9)In this section “scheme of reconstruction or amalgamation” means a scheme for the reconstruction of any company or companies or the amalgamation of any 2 or more companies.