VCM45550 - VC loss relief: general: qualifying trading company: trading companies

ICTA88/S576 (4) - (5)

A trading company is a company, other than an excluded company - see VCM45500, which is:

• a company whose business consists wholly or mainly of the carrying on of a trade or trades, or
• the holding company of a trading group.

For these purposes a group comprises a parent company and one or more subsidiaries in which the parent has a direct, or indirect, interest in more than 50% of the issued ordinary share capital. A trading group is a group where the business of the group members, taken together, consists wholly or mainly in the carrying on of a trade or trades. However, any group company which is:

• an excluded company, see VCM45500, or
• for shares issued before 6 April 1998, not resident in the UK,

is not regarded as carrying on a trade for this purpose.