Finance Act 1998

32 Unrelieved surplus advance corporation tax. U.K.

(1) The Treasury may by regulations make provision for or in connection with enabling unrelieved surplus advance corporation tax to be set against liability to corporation tax on profits charged to corporation tax for accounting periods ending on or after 6th April 1999 (and thus to discharge a corresponding amount of any such liability).

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) above, regulations under this section may make provision—

(a) for or in connection with imposing a limit or limits on the amount of unrelieved surplus advance corporation tax which may be set against liability to corporation tax on profits charged to corporation tax for an accounting period;

(b) for or in connection with the carrying forward of unrelieved surplus advance corporation tax from earlier accounting periods to later accounting periods;

(c) for or in connection with the recovery of corporation tax from companies in prescribed circumstances where any such liability as is mentioned in paragraph (a) above is or has been discharged by the set-off of unrelieved surplus advance corporation tax;

(d) for or in connection with the reduction or extinguishment of unrelieved surplus advance corporation tax;

(e) for or in connection with treating notional amounts of advance corporation tax (“shadow ACT") as paid by companies in respect of distributions made on or after 6th April 1999;

(f) for or in connection with the determination of amounts of shadow ACT which are treated as paid by companies in respect of distributions made on or after 6th April 1999;

(g) in relation to the treatment of shadow ACT;

(h) in relation to the treatment of companies which have prescribed relationships or connections with each other;

(i) in relation to the treatment of prescribed events, arrangements or transactions involving companies with unrelieved surplus advance corporation tax.

(3) The provision which may be made by regulations under this section includes provision—

(a) for or in connection with treating shadow ACT as reducing any limit or limits on the amount of unrelieved surplus advance corporation tax which may be set against any such liability as is mentioned in subsection (2)(a) above;

(b) for or in connection with the carrying forward of shadow ACT from earlier accounting periods to later accounting periods;

(c) for or in connection with the carrying back of shadow ACT from later accounting periods to earlier accounting periods;

(d) for or in connection with the transfer of shadow ACT between companies;

(e) for or in connection with the reduction or extinguishment of shadow ACT.

(4) The provision which may be made by virtue of subsection (2)(c) above includes provision for or in connection with the recovery of corporation tax from a company which has a prescribed relationship or connection with a company whose liability to corporation tax is or has been discharged by the set-off of unrelieved surplus advance corporation tax.

(5) The provision which may be made by regulations under this section includes provision for or in connection with enabling unrelieved surplus advance corporation tax to be set against liability to a sum chargeable under section 747(4)(a) of the Taxes Act 1988 (controlled foreign companies) as if it were an amount of corporation tax for an accounting period.

(6) In this section “unrelieved surplus advance corporation tax” means the advance corporation tax (if any) which, apart from sub-paragraph (3) of [F1 paragraph 12] of Schedule 3 to this Act but otherwise in accordance with that paragraph, would be treated by virtue of section 239(4) of the Taxes Act 1988 as paid in respect of distributions made by a company in the first accounting period of the company to begin on or after 6th April 1999.

(7) The reference in subsection (6) above to an accounting period beginning on or after 6th April 1999 includes a reference to a separate accounting period mentioned in section 245(2) of the Taxes Act 1988 which begins on 6th April 1999.

(8) Regulations under this section—

(a) may make such modifications of any provisions of the Tax Acts, or

(b) may apply such provisions of the Tax Acts,

as the Treasury think necessary or expedient for or in connection with giving effect to the provisions of this section.

(9) Regulations under this section which apply any provisions of the Tax Acts may apply those provisions either without modifications or with such modifications as the Treasury think necessary or expedient for or in connection with giving effect to the provisions of this section.

(10) Regulations under this section—

(a) may make different provision for different purposes, cases or circumstances;

(b) may make different provision in relation to companies or accounting periods of different descriptions;

(c) may make such supplementary, incidental, consequential or transitional provision as appears to the Treasury to be necessary or expedient.

(11) Regulations under this section may make provision in relation to accounting periods beginning before (as well as accounting periods beginning on or after) the date on which the regulations are made.

(12) In this section—

• “modifications” includes amendments, additions and omissions;

• “prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made under this section.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in s. 32(6) substituted (retrospective to 31.7.1998) by 1999 c. 16, s. 91(4)(6)