The analysis concerns the case of a business contribution followed by the disposal of the participation received in exchange. In this regard, an interpretative question arises as to whether the conditions for benefiting from the Participation Exemption (PEX) under letters (a) and (b) of paragraph 1 of Article 87 of the TUIR are satisfied — specifically, the minimum holding period and the classification of the participation as a long-term financial asset — having regard to the coexistence of participations acquired at the time of incorporation of the receiving company and participations acquired or received in exchange for the business contribution.
According to an as yet unpublished ruling in response to a tax ruling request (interpello), a distinction ought to be drawn between participations held as a result of the company’s incorporation and those received by virtue of the business contribution. In such a case, the capital gain realised on disposal would need to be apportioned across the different tranches of the participation, each carrying a different acquisition date and holding period, so as to apply the exemption exclusively to the portion of the gain attributable to the tranche satisfying the conditions for the Participation Exemption.
In other words, the exemption regime would apply on a proportional basis, whereby the attribution of the capital gain to the two tranches of the participation is determined according to the ratio of the value of each tranche to the total value of the participations held in the equity of the company being disposed of.