This section has effect for facilitating certain transactions whereby trading activities carried on by a single company or group are divided so as to be carried on by 2 or more companies not belonging to the same group or by 2 or more independent groups.
Where a company makes a distribution which is exempt by virtue of section 1076 of CTA 2010—
Subject to subsection (4) below, section 179 shall not apply in a case where a company ceases to be a member of a group by reason only of an exempt distribution.
Subsection (3) does not apply if within 5 years after the making of the exempt distribution there is chargeable payment; and the time for making an assessment under section ... 179 by virtue of this subsection shall not expire before the end of 3 years after the making of the chargeable payment.
In this section—
"chargeable payment" has the meaning given in section 1088 of CTA 2010;
"exempt distribution" means a distribution which is exempt by virtue of section 1076 or 1077 of CTA 2010; and
"group" means a company which has one or more 75 per cent. subsidiaries together with that or those subsidiaries.
In determining for the purposes of this section whether one company is a 75 per cent. subsidiary of another, the other company shall be treated as not being the owner of—