Capital Gains Tax and Inheritance Tax
The 14% syllabus area covering straightforward gains, losses, lifetime transfers, death and estate calculations.
How to study the ACA Certificate Level
Use the current 2025-26 syllabus and exam pages, study every module, practise the relevant objective and scenario formats and keep ethics, sustainability and professional scepticism active across the whole level.
Core concepts
Concept 1
Classify persons, assets and disposals as chargeable or exempt for gains purposes.
Exam cue: Define the information, person, entity and requirement relevant to capital gains tax and inheritance tax.
Concept 2
Calculate chargeable gains and losses from consideration and allowable cost.
Exam cue: Select the current ICAEW syllabus principle, apply it to the evidence and show any required calculation.
Concept 3
Aggregate gains and losses and calculate an individual's Capital Gains Tax.
Exam cue: Check the conclusion for professional scepticism, ethics, sustainability and practical consequences.
Risk pitfalls and guardrails
Treating capital gains tax and inheritance tax as a definition list without applying the supplied facts.
Guardrail: Do not use a former module name, retired rule, unsupported assumption or answer that ignores evidence quality, ethics, sustainability or timing.
Using a former ACA module label, retired scope or unsupported rule instead of the current syllabus.
Guardrail: Do not use a former module name, retired rule, unsupported assumption or answer that ignores evidence quality, ethics, sustainability or timing.
Ignoring an assumption, data limitation, ethical issue, deadline or effect on the financial conclusion.
Guardrail: Do not use a former module name, retired rule, unsupported assumption or answer that ignores evidence quality, ethics, sustainability or timing.
Memory anchors
Capital Gains Tax and Inheritance Tax - Scope
Classify persons, assets and disposals as chargeable or exempt for gains purposes.
Capital Gains Tax and Inheritance Tax - Rule
Calculate chargeable gains and losses from consideration and allowable cost.
Capital Gains Tax and Inheritance Tax - Method
Aggregate gains and losses and calculate an individual's Capital Gains Tax.
Capital Gains Tax and Inheritance Tax - Risk
Identify the principles and categories of lifetime transfer for Inheritance Tax.
Capital Gains Tax and Inheritance Tax - Action
Calculate lifetime tax, death tax on prior transfers and the taxable death estate.
Checkpoint rule
Do the check-up only after you can summarize each concept in one sentence and identify one dangerous pitfall from memory.
Knowledge Check (after reading)
Short check-up to confirm understanding of this module.
Check-up Questions
An asset is sold for £42,000 and allowable acquisition and disposal costs total £27,000. What is the gain before reliefs?
For 2025/26, gains after losses are £18,000 and the annual exempt amount is £3,000. What amount is taxable?
Answer all questions to submit.
Next step personalized recommendations
Continue learning
Move forward only after this module is stable.
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