Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988

168 Other interpretative provisions

(1) The following provisions of this section apply for the interpretation of expressions used in this Chapter.

(2) Subject to section 165(6)(b), “employment” means an office or employment the emoluments of which fall to be assessed under Schedule E; and related expressions shall be construed accordingly.

(3) For the purposes of this Chapter—

(a) all sums paid to an employee by his employer in respect of expenses, and

(b) all such provision as is mentioned in this Chapter which is made for an employee, or for members of his family or household, by his employer,

are deemed to be paid to or made for him or them by reason of his employment, except any such payment or provision made by the employer, being an individual, as can be shown to have been made in the normal course of his domestic, family or personal relationships.

(4) References to members of a person’s family or household are to his spouse, his sons and daughters and their spouses, his parents and his servants, dependants and guests.

(5) As respects cars, the following definitions apply—

(a) “car” means any mechanically propelled road vehicle except—

(i) a vehicle of a construction primarily suited for the conveyance of goods or burden of any description,

(ii) a vehicle of a type not commonly used as a private vehicle and unsuitable to be so used,

(iii) a motor cycle as defined in section 190(4) of the [1972 c. 20.] Road Traffic Act 1972, and

(iv) an invalid carriage as defined in section 190(5) of that Act;

(b) the age of a car at any time is the interval between the date of its first registration and that time;

(c) “business travel” means travelling which a person is necessarily obliged to do in the performance of the duties of his employment;

(d) the date of a car’s first registration is the date on which it was first registered—

(i) in Great Britain, under the [1971 c. 10.] Vehicles (Excise) Act 1971 or corresponding earlier legislation; or

(ii) elsewhere, under the corresponding legislation of any country or territory;

(e) the original market value of a car is the inclusive price which it might reasonably have been expected to fetch if sold in the United Kingdom singly in a retail sale in the open market immediately before the date of its first registration (“inclusive price” meaning the price inclusive of customs or excise duty, of any tax chargeable as if it were a duty of customs, and of value added tax and car tax); and

(f) “private use”, in relation to a car made available to any person, or to others being members of his family or household, means any use otherwise than for his business travel.

(6) For the purposes of this Chapter—

(a) a car made available in any year to an employee, or to others being members of his family or household, by reason of his employment is deemed to be available in that year for his or their private use unless the terms on which the car is made available prohibit such use and no such use is made of the car in that year;

(b) a car made available to an employee, or to others being members of his family or household, by his employer is deemed to be made available to him or them by reason of his employment (unless the employer is an individual and it can be shown that the car was made so available in the normal course of his domestic, family or personal relationships).

(7) For the purposes of section 156, the market value of an asset at any time is the price which it might reasonably have been expected to fetch on a sale in the open market at that time.

(8) Subject to subsection (9) below, “director” means—

(a) in relation to a company whose affairs are managed by a board of directors or similar body, a member of that board or similar body;

(b) in relation to a company whose affairs are managed by a single director or similar person, that director or person; and

(c) in relation to a company whose affairs are managed by the members themselves, a member of the company,

and includes any person in accordance with whose directions or instructions the directors of the company (as defined above) are accustomed to act.

(9) A person is not under subsection (8) above to be deemed to be a person in accordance with whose directions or instructions the directors of the company are accustomed to act by reason only that the directors act on advice given by him in a professional capacity.

(10) “Full-time working director” means a director who is required to devote substantially the whole of his time to the service of the company in a managerial or technical capacity.

(11) A person shall be treated as having a material interest in a company—

(a) if he, either on his own or with any one or more of his associates, or if any associate of his with or without such other associates, is the beneficial owner of, or able, directly or through the medium of other companies or by any other indirect means, to control, more than 5 per cent. of the ordinary share capital of the company; or

(b) if, in the case of a close company, on an amount equal to the whole distributable income of the company falling to be apportioned under Part XI for the purpose of computing total income, more than 5 per cent. of that amount could be apportioned to him together with his associates (if any), or to any associate of his, or any such associates taken together.

In this subsection “associate” has the same meaning as in section 417(3), except that for this purpose “relative” in that subsection has the meaning given by section 160(6).

(12) “Control”, in relation to a body corporate or partnership, has the meaning given to it by section 840; and the definition of “control” in that section applies (with the necessary modifications) in relation to an unincorporated association as it applies in relation to a body corporate.

(13) “Year” means year of assessment (except where the expression is used with reference to the age of a car).