Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 section 979

Time for payment of capital gains tax assessed under sections 977(3) or 978(2) and (3)

Section 979 sets out the time for payment of capital gains tax where that tax is assessed on a shareholder or a donee rather than on the person who made the gain.

• This section applies where CGT is recovered from a shareholder who received a capital distribution from a non-resident company, or from a donee who received a gift giving rise to a chargeable gain.
• The tax is payable within 3 months after the end of the year of assessment in which the chargeable gain accrued, or within 2 months of the date the assessment is made, whichever deadline falls later.
• The effect is that where an assessment is made promptly, the taxpayer still has until at least 3 months after the year end to pay; but where an assessment is made late, a minimum 2-month window from that assessment date is guaranteed.
• The section ensures that the person on whom the tax is assessed always has a reasonable period in which to discharge the liability, regardless of when the assessment is raised.