137 Restriction on application of sections 135 and 136.U.K.
(1)Subject to subsection (2) below, and section 138, neither section 135 nor section 136 shall apply to any issue by a company of shares in or debentures of that company in exchange for or in respect of shares in or debentures of another company unless the exchange [F1or scheme of reconstruction] in question is effected for bona fide commercial reasons and does not form part of a scheme or arrangements of which the main purpose, or one of the main purposes, is avoidance of liability to capital gains tax or corporation tax.
(2)Subsection (1) above shall not affect the operation of section 135 or 136 in any case where the person to whom the shares or debentures are issued does not hold more than 5 per cent. of, or of any class of, the shares in or debentures of the second company mentioned in subsection (1) above.
(3)For the purposes of subsection (2) above shares or debentures held by persons connected with the person there mentioned shall be treated as held by him.
(4)If any tax assessed on a person (the chargeable person) by virtue of subsection (1) above is not paid within 6 months from the date when it is payable, any other person who—
(a)holds all or any part of the shares or debentures that were issued to the chargeable person, and
(b)has acquired them without there having been, since their acquisition by the chargeable person, any disposal of them not falling within section 58(1) or 171,
may, at any time within 2 years from the time when the tax became payable, be assessed and charged (in the name of the chargeable person) to all or, as the case may be, a corresponding part of the unpaid tax; and a person paying any amount of tax under this subsection shall be entitled to recover a sum of that amount from the chargeable person.
(5)With respect to chargeable gains accruing in chargeable periods ending after such day as the Treasury may by order appoint, in subsection (4) above—
(a)for the words “the date when it is payable" there shall be substituted “ the date determined under subsection (4A) below ”;
(b)for the words “the time when the tax became payable" there shall be substituted “ that date ”; and
(c)for the words “a sum" onwards there shall be substituted “ from the chargeable person a sum equal to that amount together with any interest paid by him under section 87A of the Management Act on that amount ”;
and after that subsection there shall be inserted—
“(4A)The date referred to in subsection (4) above is whichever is the later of—
(a)the date when the tax becomes due and payable by the chargeable person; and
(b)the date when the assessment was made on the chargeable person.”
(6)In this section references to shares or debentures include references to any interests or options to which this Chapter applies by virtue of [F2section 135(5), 136(5)] or 147.
Textual Amendments
F1Words in s. 137(1) substituted (with effect in accordance with Sch. 9 paras. 7, 8 of the amending Act) by Finance Act 2002 (c. 23), Sch. 9 para. 5(5)(a)
F2Words in s. 137(6) substituted (with effect in accordance with Sch. 9 paras. 7, 8 of the amending Act) by Finance Act 2002 (c. 23), Sch. 9 para. 5(5)(b)
Modifications etc. (not altering text)
C1S. 137(1) modified (with effect in accordance with s. 1329(1) of the affecting Act) by Corporation Tax Act 2009 (c. 4), ss. 129(7), 1329(1) (with Sch. 2 Pts. 1, 2)
Commencement Information
I1S. 137(5):30.9.1993 appointed for the purposes of s. 137(5) by S.I. 1992/3066, art. 2(2)(d) in force at 30.9.1993 by S.I. 1992/3066, art. 2(2)(d)