CGT assets acquired before 20 September 1985 generally have ‘pre-CGT status’ (subject to certain integrity rules). This means that the seller can disregarded any capital gain arising from their disposal.
However, where companies and unit trusts hold pre-CGT assets, those companies and trusts may be difficulty paying the sale proceeds to their shareholders or unitholders in a tax-free manner. This will often be the case as some or all of the shares or units themselves may no longer be pre-CGT assets.
The 15-year exemption (one of the concessions available under the small business CGT concessions) allows for a company or unit trust to extract a capital gain from a pre-CGT status in a tax-free manner as a non-assessable non-exempt amount.