Carbon tetrachloride is a covalent compound, meaning that it is formed by the sharing of electrons between carbon and chlorine atoms. This is because the electronegativity difference between carbon and chlorine atoms (0.5) is less than 1.7, which is the threshold for ionic bond formation.

In a covalent bond, the electrons are shared equally between the atoms, which results in a symmetrical distribution of charge around the molecule. This is in contrast to ionic compounds, where the electrons are transferred completely from one atom to another, resulting in the formation of charged ions.