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Death of the holder

Last updated 17 July 2006

If a depreciating asset starts being held by you as a legal personal representative (say, as the executor of an estate) as a result of the death of the former holder, the cost of the asset to you is generally its adjustable value on the day the former holder died.

If the former holder allocated the asset to a low-value pool, the cost of the asset to you is so much of the closing balance of the pool for the income year in which the former holder died that is reasonably attributable to the asset - see Low-value pools for information about low-value pools.

If you start to hold a depreciating asset because it passes to you as a beneficiary of an estate or as a surviving joint tenant, the cost of the asset to you is its market value when you started to hold it reduced by any capital gain that was ignored when the owner died or when it passed from the legal personal representative. See the Guide to capital gains tax 2006 (NAT 4151-6.2006) for information about when these gains can be disregarded.

QC27742