IHTM34011 - Loss on sale of shares: basic conditions


There is no time limit for claiming the relief. But before the relief may be claimed there are 4 basic conditions that must be met. These are summarised in the table below


ConditionComments
1) The shares, etc., sold must be ‘qualifying investments’The following are qualifying investments for the purposes of this relief
  • quoted shares and securities (including those that are quoted on a recognised foreign stock exchange)
  • unit trusts
  • shares quoted on NASDAQ (for deaths after 10 March 1992)
  • Unlisted Securities Market (USM) shares are qualifying investments for deaths on or after 17 March 1987. (But you will need to take special care if the death was after 10 March 1992 ( IHTM34133).
The following are not qualifying investments
  • Unquoted shares
  • shares traded on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM)
You can find out more about qualifying investments at (IHTM34130).
2) The sales must be within 12 months of deathThe relief only applies to ‘qualifying investments’ that are sold in the 12 months immediately following the date of death.

Special rules apply to investments that cannot be sold ( IHTM34155).

You can find out more (IHTM34150) about this condition and what is or is not treated as a sale for the purposes of this relief at (IHTM34150).
3) The shares must be sold by the ‘appropriate person’
To qualify for relief the shares must be sold by the appropriate person. The appropriate person is the person who is liable for the tax. This will usually be the
  • legal personal representatives (for investments in the free estate), or
  • trustees (for investments in a settlement).
  • The appropriate person (or persons if there are more than one personal representative or trustee) must also claim the relief.
There is more information about who is the appropriate person for the purposes of this relief at ( IHTM34161).
4) There must be an ‘overall loss’ on the sales of the qualifying investments.Relief is only available if the gross sale proceeds of all shares sold by the ‘appropriate person’ within 12 months of death is less than the date of death value for those shares. In other words there must be an overall loss on all sales. And all sales of ‘qualifying investments’ have to be included in the claim, not just those that have fallen in value.

Special rules apply if there are changes in shareholdings ( IHTM34181) between the date of death and the date of sale. There are also restrictions (IHTM34201) on the relief if the appropriate person purchases shares.

You can find detailed instructions on how the loss is calculated at ( IHTM34171).