Revenue published guidance on the 7 year capital gains tax exemption for land or buildings. The opportunity to avail of this relief expired at the end of December.

The guidance clarifies:

• The relief applies to the gain on the disposal of land or buildings that were acquired in the period from 7 December 2011 to 31 December 2014. We received a number of queries from members on the acquisition date; per section 542 TCA 1997, land or buildings will be treated as acquired where an unconditional contract has been made on or before 31 December 2014 or a contract is made subject to a condition precedent and the condition is satisfied on or before that date. Date of disposal will also be taken from section 542 TCA 1997.
• There is no distinction between “land” or “buildings” for the purposes of the relief, as any building situated on land is not an asset separate and distinct from the land.
• Enhancement expenditure may be incurred at any time between the date of acquisition and disposal; this includes expenditure incurred on the construction of buildings on land or the completion of partially built buildings, without affecting entitlement to the relief.

Further information and access to the guidance note is set out in Revenue eBrief No. 101/2014. This eBrief is available on here.