CG60310 - Reliefs: replacement of business assets (roll-over relief): obtaining relief
Source: gov.uk (2025-10-08)


Throughout this manual, all legislative references are to Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1992/12/contents) (TCGA 1992) unless otherwise stated.

Declaration of provisional relief (#Declaration of provisional relief)

Claim for relief (#Claim for relief)

Declaration of provisional relief

Section 153A (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1992/12/section/153A) provides a mechanism for a person who has made a disposal of a qualifying asset to obtain provisional roll-over relief before they acquire new assets.

There is no claim involved in obtaining provisional relief under section 153A (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1992/12/section/153A). It is obtained upon a declaration, in a return, of an intention to reinvest in new qualifying assets. One or more claims for relief will need to be made under section 152 (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1992/12/section/152) or section 153 (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1992/12/section/153) once the assets are acquired.

There is no specified form that must be used in order to make the declaration. For persons other than companies, an optional form on which the declaration can be made has been provided in Helpsheet 290 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/business-asset-roll-over-relief-hs290-self-assessment-helpsheet). The declaration may however be made in any form the taxpayer chooses provided that it is attached to the return for the year in which the old asset was disposed of and identifies the
- taxpayer and their Unique Taxpayer Reference
- old assets which have been disposed of
- amount received for each asset
- date of disposal for each asset
- amount of consideration received from the disposal of each old asset that is to be applied in acquiring new assets
- amount of provisional relief due – the is the amount of the gain being deferred
The taxpayer can then complete their Self Assessment tax return as if there had been an actual acquisition of new assets for the amount specified. The specified amount can only be increased by amending the return. When the period available for amendment has expired the specified amount can only be withdrawn or reduced.The amount of tax which can be deferred under a declaration for provisional relief is the amount that would have been deferred if a new asset had actually been acquired costing an amount equal to that whole or part of the proceeds on which the declaration has been made.Whilst provisional relief is in effect, no tax is payable in respect of the disposal of the old asset. Under section 153A(3) (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1992/12/section/153A), the declaration will cease to have effect when any of the three circumstances listed below occurs:
- the taxpayer makes a valid claim to roll-over relief to supersede the declaration (that is they have actually acquired a qualifying new asset and claimed accordingly)
- the taxpayer withdraws their declaration as they no longer have an intention to reinvest
- if neither of the two points above have taken place, the declaration, and therefore provisional relief will expire on the ‘relevant day’, which is defined below.Note that in the case of partial reinvestment, a declaration for provisional relief can be viewed as having been partially superseded by a valid claim to roll-over relief (to the extent that there has been sufficient reinvestment, see CG60291 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/capital-gains-manual/cg60291)). The balance is treated as an unfulfilled declaration that expires on the ‘relevant day’ as appropriate, unless withdrawn earlier and therefore falling within either the second or the third bullet points above.If the taxpayer withdraws their declaration of intent, or the declaration expires and no valid claim has been made, an assessment must be made to bring the tax from the initial disposal of the old asset into charge.The decision in The Commissioners for HM Revenue & Customs v Benham (SpecialistCars) Limited [2017] (https://www.gov.uk/tax-and-chancery-tribunal-decisions/the-commissioners-for-hm-revenue-and-customs-v-benham-specialist-cars-limited-2017-ukut-0389-tcc) confirmed that this gain is correctly brought into charge by means of a discovery assessment, although section 153A(4) (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1992/12/section/153A) ensures that if the usual time limits for making such an assessment have passed, the gain can still be brought into charge by the making of an assessment or otherwise.Section 153A(5) (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1992/12/section/153A) defines the ‘relevant day’ as:
- for persons other than companies, the third anniversary of the 31 January next following the tax year in which the disposal of the old assets took place
Claim for Relief: Time Limit and Form of Claim
- for persons other than companies, 4 years from the end of the year of assessment to which the claim relates, see SACM3035 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/self-assessment-claims-manual/sacm3035)
- for companies, 4 years from the end of the accounting period to which the claim relates, see CTM90610 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/company-taxation-manual/ctm90610)The time limit for claiming relief begins with the end of the tax year or accounting period in which the later of the following took place:
- the disposal of the old assets
- the acquisition of the new assetsExample 3If a disposal is made by a sole trader in the tax year 2019 to 2020 and the consideration received is reinvested in replacement business assets in the tax year 2021 to 2022 the time limit for a claim to roll-over relief is 5 April 2026. Example 4If a disposal is made by a company in the accounting period ended 30 June 2022 and a claim to roll-over relief is made in respect of a reinvestment in the accounting period ended 30 June 2021, the time limit for a claim is 30 June 2026. A claim to relief is not prevented by the finality of an assessment on chargeable gains.There is no specified form that must be used in order to make a claim to roll-over relief. For persons other than companies, there is an optional form on which the claim can be made, and this has been provided in Helpsheet 290 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/business-asset-roll-over-relief-hs290-self-assessment-helpsheet). However, the claim may be made in any form the taxpayer chooses provided that it is made in writing and identifies the
- claimant and their Unique Taxpayer Reference
- old assets which have been disposed of
- amount received for each asset
- date of disposal for each asset
- new assets which have been acquired
- cost of each new asset
- date of acquisition for each new asset, or the date on which unconditional contracts for the acquisition of each of those assets were entered into
- amount of consideration received from the disposal of each old asset that has been used to acquire each new asset
- amount of relief due - this is the amount of the gain being deferred
Wherever possible, the claim should be attached to the tax return to which it relates, or an amendment to that return.If a claim is sent outside of a tax return, the claimant, or the person claiming on their behalf, must also include a signed declaration which states that the particulars given in the claim are correct and complete to the best of their knowledge and belief.If HMRC staff receive an indication that a claim to roll-over relief is intended but the claim does not include all the required information, they should write to the claimant setting out the information which is needed to put the claim in the proper form.

See CG13700P (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/capital-gains-manual/cg13700p) for further information about making claims.