For companies selling shares, the Substantial Shareholdings Exemption (SSE) can mean significant tax relief. Introduced in 2002 and simplified in 2017, this exemption allows qualifying gains on share disposals to go untaxed—provided key conditions are met.
The SSE regime provides that a gain on a disposal by a company of shares (or an interest in shares, or certain assets related to shares) will not normally be a chargeable gain. This is provided the following two conditions are met for disposals on or after 1 April 2017.
However, the exemption does not apply if:
No formal claim is needed. If the conditions for the relief are met, the gain is automatically exempt. However, a loss on a disposal where the conditions for the relief are met is not an allowable loss.
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