Income tax: capital gains: is know-how a CGT asset?
1
No. Know-how is not a CGT asset because it is neither a form of property nor a legal or equitable right.
2
Know-how is knowledge or information rather than a CGT asset.
3
According to the Macquarie Dictionary 3rd ed, 'know-how' is knowledge of how to do something.
4
A right in respect of know-how, such as a contractual right to require the disclosure or non-disclosure of know-how, is a CGT asset under subsection 108-5(1) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 . Similarly, a licence to use know-how is a CGT asset.
5
There may be implications under the revenue provisions of the income tax law for receipts for supplying or imparting knowledge or information: see sections 6-5 and 6-10.