The same trade may continue in existence even if there is a
change in the people who carry it on. The most obvious example is
where a trade is carried on in partnership and the partners change.
However it can also happen where predecessor and successor are at
arm’s length, most commonly where a business (including all
its assets and goodwill) is sold as a going concern.
A change in the persons carrying on a trade is normally
referred to as ‘succession’, which was the word for
such a change used in earlier legislation. The phrase used in the
current legislation is ‘change in the persons engaged in
carrying on a trade’ (ICTA88/S113 (1) (
BIM72235)) but the courts accept that
the phrase means the same as ‘succession’ (for example,
Maidment v Kibby [1993] 66TC137 at page 143). So the earlier case
law continues to apply.
