Finance Act 2021

Application of Schedule to persons with multiple businesses etc

4 (1) Sub-paragraphs (2) to (4) apply for the interpretation of this Schedule where a person—

(a) carries on more than one business, and

(b) in relation to two or more of those businesses (the “relevant businesses”), is required to make returns belonging to the same group of returns.

(2) If the group of returns mentioned in sub-paragraph (1)(b) is group 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A, 4B or 4C, the person makes a single return belonging to that group for all of the relevant businesses and so there is a single group of returns of that description for those businesses.

(3) If the group of returns mentioned in sub-paragraph (1)(b) is group 1B, 2B or 3B, there is a single group of returns of that description for all of the relevant businesses notwithstanding that the person makes separate returns belonging to that group for each of the relevant businesses.

(4) Where there is a single group of returns of a particular description for two or more relevant businesses (see sub-paragraphs (2) and (3))—

(a) the person has a single liability for points and penalties for those businesses;

(b) any change to the number of relevant businesses does not affect the continuity of the group of returns or the penalty points that the person has for the group of returns.

(5) For the purposes of this Schedule, references to a person who carries on more than one business include references to a person who is treated as carrying on more than one business by section 43(1) of VATA 1994 (groups of companies).

(6) If a body corporate carries on a business in several divisions and the registration of the body corporate under VATA 1994 is in the names of those divisions, such that the body corporate makes separate returns belonging to group 4A, 4B or 4C for each of those divisions—

(a) there is a separate group of returns of that description for each division, and

(b) the body corporate has a separate liability for points and penalties for each division.

(7) Accordingly, it follows from sub-paragraph (6) that where, in paragraph 5—

(a) a limit on a person’s liability to penalty points for a group of returns is specified, the limit applies separately in relation to the group of returns of that description for each division, and

(b) a maximum number of penalty points for a group of returns is specified, the maximum applies separately in relation to the group of returns of that description for each division.