Wee dram

My client has diligently built up a collection of bottles of whisky over the past 20 years specialising in bottles from one particular distillery. He has had an approach from someone who wishes to buy his collection – or any part thereof.

He has priced each bottle singly and has come up with a total figure of £50 000 with no single bottle being worth more than £5 000. The total cost of the bottles was less than £10 000 with no single bottle having cost more than £1 000. My client wants to know what his tax position would be if he were to sell the lot.

It may be wishful thinking but my initial thoughts were that no capital gains tax should be payable because the goods are chattels. The collection does not appear to amount to a “set” and although the items...