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Change year: 2010

Section 546 Allowable losses

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(1) Where under the Capital Gains Tax Acts an asset is not a chargeable asset, no allowable loss shall accrue on its disposal.

Can I get an allowable loss on the disposal of non-chargeable assets?

(1) No.

(2) Except where otherwise expressly provided, the amount of a loss accruing on a disposal of an asset shall be computed in the same way as the amount of a gain accruing on a disposal is computed.

How is a loss computed?

(2) An allowable loss is calculated in the same manner as a chargeable gain....

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(3) Except where otherwise expressly provided, the provisions of the Capital Gains Tax Acts which distinguish gains which are chargeable gains from those which are not, or which make part of a gain a chargeable gain and part not, shall apply also to distinguish losses which are allowable losses from those which are not, and to make part of a loss an allowable loss and part not, and references in the Capital Gains Tax Acts to an allowable loss shall be construed accordingly.

What rules determine if a loss is allowable for CGT?

(3) The CGT rules that make gains chargeable also make losses allowable. If a transaction results in a gain being chargeable, a loss, if it had arisen on the same transaction, is allowable.

(4) A loss accruing to a person in a year of assessment for which the person is neither resident nor ordinarily resident in the State shall not be an allowable loss for the purposes of the Capital Gains Tax Acts unless under section 29(3) the person would be chargeable to capital gains tax in respect of a chargeable gain if there had been a gain instead of a loss on that occasion.

If I am non-resident and non-ordinarily resident, what losses are allowable?

(4) Where you are neither resident nor ordinarily resident in the State for a tax year, you are chargeable to CGT on the disposal of land, minerals, exploration rights, or trade assets of a branch located in the State (section 29(3))....

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(5) Except where provided by section 573, an allowable loss accruing in a year of assessment shall not be allowable as a deduction from chargeable gains in any earlier year of assessment, and relief shall not be given under the Capital Gains Tax Acts-

(a) more than once in respect of any loss or part of a loss, and

(b) if and in so far as relief has been or may be given in respect of that loss or part of a loss under the Income Tax Acts.

Can I offset a loss against a gain in a previous year?

(5) An allowable loss may not be set off against chargeable gains of any earlier tax year. An exception to this rule allows the set off of a (terminal) loss arising in the year of death against chargeable gains of the three immediately preceding tax ...

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(6) For the purposes of section 31, where, on the assumption that there were no allowable losses to be deducted under that section, a person would be chargeable under the Capital Gains Tax Acts at more than one rate of tax for a year of assessment, any allowable losses to be deducted under that section shall be deducted-

(a) if the person would be so chargeable at 2 different rates, from the chargeable gains which would be so chargeable at the higher of those rates and, in so far as they cannot be so deducted, from the chargeable gains which would be so chargeable at the lower of those rates, and

(b) if the person would be so chargeable at 3 or more rates, from the chargeable gains which would be so chargeable at the highest of those rates and, in so far as they cannot be so deducted, from the chargeable gains which would be so chargeable at the next highest of those rates, and so on.

How can I use carried forward losses if I have gains chargeable at different rates?

(6) Where you have gains chargeable at different CGT rates, you may maximise your relief by setting any unused losses carried forward against the gains chargeable at the highest rate.

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