Income tax: capital gains: for the purposes of Subdivision 124-B of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, can you purchase a replacement asset before an Australian government agency has given you a formal notice of intention to compulsorily acquire a CGT asset?

Yes. Paragraph 124-70(1)(c) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 does not require that you purchase a replacement CGT asset after you receive the notice. It requires that you dispose of the original asset to an Australian government agency after the notice was served on you.

The timing requirements for roll-over under Subdivision 124-B are set out in subsection 124-75(3). They do not require that a notice be received before any acquisition of the replacement asset. Under paragraph 124-75(3)(a), you can incur expenditure in acquiring a replacement asset no earlier than one year before the original asset was compulsorily acquired (or within such further time as the Commissioner allows in special circumstances).