Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988

8 (1) In this Schedule “herd” includes a flock, and any other collection of animals however named.

(2) For the purposes of this Schedule, immature animals kept in a herd shall not be treated as forming part of the herd unless—

(a) the land on which the herd is kept is such that animals which die or cease to form part of the herd cannot be replaced except by animals bred and reared on that land; and

(b) the immature animals in question are bred in the herd, are maintained in the herd for the purpose of replacement, and are necessarily maintained for that purpose;

and references in this Schedule to herds shall be construed accordingly.

(3) References in this Schedule to an animal being added to a herd include references to an immature animal which is kept in the herd becoming a mature animal except that not more immature animals shall be treated as forming part of a herd than are required to prevent a fall in the numbers of the herd.

(4) Female animals shall be treated for the purposes of this Schedule as becoming mature when they produce their first young.

(5) In this Schedule “a production herd” means, in relation to a farmer, a herd of animals of the same species (irrespective of breed) kept by him wholly or mainly for the sake of the products which they produce for him to sell, being products obtainable from the living animal.

In this sub-paragraph “products obtainable from the living animal” means—

(a) the young of the animal, or

(b) any other product obtainable from the animal, not being a product obtainable only by slaughtering the animal itself.

(6) For the purposes of this Schedule, production herds kept by a farmer shall be deemed to be of the same class if, and only if, all the animals kept in the herds are of the same species (irrespective of breed) and the products produced for him to sell for the sake of which (either wholly or mainly) the herds are kept by him are of the same kinds in the case of all the herds; and elections for the herd basis shall be framed accordingly.

(7) Any reference in this Schedule to profits or gains chargeable to tax under Schedule D includes a reference to profits or gains which would be so chargeable if there were any such profits or gains for the chargeable period in question.