Finance Act 2019

80 Offshore matters or transfers: income tax and capital gains tax

(1) TMA 1970 is amended as follows.

(2) After section 36 insert—

“36A Loss of tax involving offshore matter or offshore transfer

(1) This section applies in a case involving a loss of income tax or capital gains tax, where—

(a) the lost tax involves an offshore matter, or

(b) the lost tax involves an offshore transfer which makes the lost tax significantly harder to identify.

(2) An assessment on a person (“the taxpayer”) may be made at any time not more than 12 years after the end of the year of assessment to which the lost tax relates.

This is subject to section 36(1A) above and any other provision of the Taxes Acts allowing a longer period.

(3) Lost income tax or capital gains tax “involves an offshore matter” if it is charged on or by reference to—

(a) income arising from a source in a territory outside the United Kingdom,

(b) assets situated or held in a territory outside the United Kingdom,

(c) income or assets received in a territory outside the United Kingdom,

(d) activities carried on wholly or mainly in a territory outside the United Kingdom, or

(e) anything having effect as if it were income, assets or activities of a kind described above.

(4) Lost income tax or capital gains tax “involves an offshore transfer” if—

(a) it does not involve an offshore matter, and

(b) the income or the proceeds of the disposal on or by reference to which it is charged, or any part of the income or proceeds, is transferred to a territory outside the United Kingdom before the relevant date.

(5) In subsection (4)—

• “relevant date” means—

  (a)

  in a case where the taxpayer (or a person acting on the taxpayer’s behalf) delivered a return under the Taxes Acts to HMRC for the year of assessment to which the lost tax relates and in which information relating to the lost tax was required to be provided, the date on which the return was delivered, and

  (b)

  in any other case, 31 January in the year of assessment after that to which the lost tax relates;

  references to income or proceeds transferred include references to assets derived from or representing the income or proceeds.

(6) Where lost tax involves an offshore transfer, the cases in which the transfer makes the lost tax significantly harder to identify include any case where, because of the transfer—

(a) HMRC was significantly less likely to become aware of the lost tax, or

(b) HMRC was likely to become aware of the lost tax only at a significantly later time.

(7) But an assessment may not be made under subsection (2) if—

(a) before the time limit that would otherwise apply for making the assessment, HMRC received relevant overseas information on the basis of which HMRC could reasonably have been expected to become aware of the lost tax, and

(b) it was reasonable to expect the assessment to be made before that time limit.

(8) In subsection (7)(a) “relevant overseas information” means information which is provided to HMRC by an authority in a territory outside the United Kingdom under—

(a) any provision of EU law relating to any tax, or

(b) an agreement to which the United Kingdom and that territory are parties, with or without other parties.

(9) An assessment may also not be made under subsection (2) to the extent that liability to the lost tax arises as a result of an adjustment under Part 4 of TIOPA 2010 (transfer pricing adjustments).

(10) In this section “assets” has the meaning given in section 21(1) of the 1992 Act, but also includes sterling.

(11) Section 36(2) to (3A) applies for the purposes of this section (as if references to section 36(1) or (1A) were to subsection (1) of this section).””

(3) In section 37A (effect of assessment where allowances transferred), after “or (1A)” insert “or 36A”.

(4) In section 40 (personal representatives), in subsection (1), for “or 36” substitute “, 36 or 36A”.

(5) The amendments made by this section have effect—

(a) in relation to assessments on a person relating to the 2013-14 year of assessment and subsequent years of assessment, where the loss of tax is brought about carelessly by that person or by a person acting on that person’s behalf, and

(b) in any other case, in relation to assessments relating to the 2015-16 year of assessment and subsequent years of assessment.