CGT taper relief – business assets

Taper relief provided substantial relief from CGT for gains arising on the disposal of business assets. The maximum rate of business asset taper relief required only two years ownership of the relevant asset to obtain the maximum rate of business asset taper relief. Paradoxically, although the relief was in force for some 10 years, it is only now that appeal decisions are being reported. Business asset taper relief was available for an asset used for the purposes of a trade. The Tribunal was asked to explore well trodden ground, in deciding whether in some circumstances residential property let to tenants, could be regarded as having been used for the purposes of a trade, in Jones and Southam v HMRC (2009) UK FTT 312.