As part of the Autumn Budget measures, the Chancellor announced that the indexation allowance for corporate chargeable gains would cease on 31 December 2017. The indexation allowance allowed companies to compensate for the effects of inflation and claim tax relief when calculating any chargeable gains.
The monthly indexation allowance was frozen from 1 January 2018. This means that the indexation relief available for any gain after 1 January 2018 will be calculated based on the indexation allowance between the date the asset was acquired and the end of December 2017 regardless of the date the asset is disposed. Any assets purchased after 1 January 2018 will have no indexation allowance associated with them.
The Chancellor announced that this will bring the corporate system into line with personal Capital Gains Tax and non-incorporated businesses for whom indexation allowance was abolished in 2008. However, there is no annual exemption for chargeable gains for companies as is the case for individuals.
This measure will see companies pay increasing amounts of Corporation Tax on capital gains as the benefit of the relief reduces over time. According to figures published by HM Treasury this change should result in additional exchequer revenue of over £500m by 2022-23, the end of the current Parliament.
