Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988

767A Change in company ownership: corporation tax. U.K.

(1) Where it appears to the Board that—

(a) there has been a change in the ownership of a company (“the tax-payer company”),

(b) any corporation tax assessed on the tax-payer company for an accounting period beginning before the change remains unpaid at any time after the relevant date, and

(c) any of the three conditions mentioned below is fulfilled,

any person mentioned in subsection (2) below may be assessed by the Board and charged (in the name of the tax-payer company) to an amount of corporation tax in accordance with this section.

(2) The persons are—

(a) any person who at any time during the relevant period before the change in the ownership of the tax-payer company had control of it;

(b) any company of which the person mentioned in paragraph (a) above has at any time had control within the period of three years before that change.

(3) In subsection (2) above, “the relevant period” means—

(a) the period of three years before the change in the ownership of the tax-payer company; or

(b) if during the period of three years before that change (“the later change”) there was a change in the ownership of the tax-payer company (“the earlier change”), the period elapsing between the earlier change and the later change.

(4) The first condition is that—

(a) at any time during the period of three years before the change in the ownership of the tax-payer company the activities of a trade or business of that company cease or the scale of those activities become small or negligible; and

(b) there is no significant revival of those activities before that change occurs.

(5) The second condition is that at any time after the change in the ownership of the tax-payer company, but under arrangements made before that change, the activities of a trade or business of that company cease or the scale of those activities become small or negligible.

(6) The third condition is that—

(a) at any time during the period of six years beginning three years before the change in the ownership of the tax-payer company there is a major change in the nature or conduct of a trade or business of that company;

(b) there is a transfer or there are transfers of assets of the tax-payer company to a person mentioned in subsection (7) below or to any person under arrangements which enable any of those assets or any assets representing those assets to be transferred to a person mentioned in subsection (7) below;

(c) that transfer occurs or those transfers occur during the period of three years before the change in the ownership of the tax-payer company or after that change but under arrangements made before that change; and

(d) the major change mentioned in paragraph (a) above is attributable to that transfer or those transfers.

(7) The persons are—

(a) any person mentioned in subsection (2)(a) above; and

(b) any person connected with him.

(8) The amount of tax charged in an assessment made under this section must not exceed the amount of the tax which, at the time of that assessment, remains unpaid by the tax-payer company.

(9) For the purposes of this section the relevant date is the date six months from the date on which the corporation tax is assessed as mentioned in subsection (1)(b) above.

(10) Any assessment made under this section shall not be out of time if made within three years from the date on which the liability of the tax-payer company to corporation tax for the accounting period mentioned in subsection (1)(b) above is finally determined.

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 Ss. 767A-768E: The Pension Protection Fund (Tax) Regulations 2006 (S.I. 2006/575), reg. 36 to be construed as one (6.4.2006) with these sections, by virtue of that reg.