Companies
Moving assets within a group: section 617 and the no gain, no loss rule
Last updated 16 October 2026
When one group company transfers an asset to another, no chargeable gain arises: the buyer takes over the seller's cost. Conditions, exceptions and clawback.
Companies in a group often move property, shares or other assets between themselves. Section 617 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 stops each move from triggering tax on chargeable gains. The transfer is treated as taking place at whatever price gives neither a gain nor a loss. So the receiving company inherits the original cost, and the gain is taxed only when the asset leaves the group.
An example
Company A bought a building for €400,000 and spent €60,000 improving it. It transfers it to its subsidiary B for €750,000, with €4,000 of transfer costs. B later sells it outside the group for €900,000.
| A's deemed sale price: cost, improvements and transfer costs | €464,000.00 |
| Gain to A on the transfer | €0.00 |
| B's sale price outside the group | €900,000.00 |
| Less B's inherited cost | (€464,000.00) |
| Chargeable gain to B | €436,000.00 |
The €750,000 actually paid within the group is ignored.
Conditions
- both companies are members of the same group: broadly a parent and its 75% subsidiaries
- since 2018, group members can be resident in an EU member state or a country with a tax treaty with Ireland, not only in Ireland
- each company is Irish resident when the asset moves, or the asset is within the Irish tax charge for it
- the asset isn't trading stock, and the transfer is an actual disposal, not a deemed one
- the company receiving it isn't an investment undertaking, or a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) or group REIT member. It also can't be an authorised ICAV (Irish Collective Asset-management Vehicle, a type of fund)
Relief also applies to mergers and divisions under the Companies Act 2014. Where a foreign group member's status is uncertain, Revenue applies its guidance on foreign entity classification.
Exceptions
- a group company disposing of a debt owed by another group company, which then pays it
- shares redeemed by one group member from another
- a capital distribution treated as a disposal of shares (though assets distributed in kind keep the relief)
- insurance payments for damage to an asset, treated as a disposal to the insurer
For specified intangible assets, the two companies can jointly choose not to use the relief. They must do so within 12 months of the end of the acquiring company's accounting period.
Leaving the group
The company that received the asset may leave the group within 10 years while still owning it. Then section 623 can make the delayed gain taxable. Broadly, the asset is treated as sold and bought back at its market value when it was transferred. Plan sales of subsidiaries with this in mind.
Work it out
Sources
- Revenue: How to calculate CGT (checked 25/10/2026)
- Revenue: Corporation Tax: basis of charge (12.5% trading, 25% non-trading and excepted trades) (checked 25/10/2026)
General information, not tax advice. HeyPenny is not a tax agent.