Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988

747 Imputation of chargeable profits and creditable tax of controlled foreign companies U.K.

M1 (1) If F1 . . . in any accounting period a company—

(a) is resident outside the United Kingdom, and

(b) is controlled by persons resident in the United Kingdom, and

(c) is subject to a lower level of taxation in the territory in which it is resident,

F2 . . . the provisions of this Chapter shall apply in relation to that accounting period.

[F3 (1A) A company which would not, apart from this subsection, fall to be regarded as controlled by persons resident in the United Kingdom shall be taken for the purposes of this Chapter to be so controlled if—

(a) there are two persons who, taken together, control the company;

(b) one of those persons is resident in the United Kingdom and is a person in whose case the 40 per cent test in section 755D(3) is satisfied; and

(c) the other is a person in whose case the 40 per cent test in section 755D(4) is satisfied.]

[F4 (1B) In determining, for the purposes of any provision of this Chapter except subsection (1)(a) above, whether a company is a person resident in the United Kingdom, [F5 section 18 of CTA 2009] (under which a company is treated as non-resident if it is so treated for double taxation relief purposes) shall be disregarded.]

(2) A company which falls within paragraphs (a) to (c) of subsection (1) above is in this Chapter referred to as a “controlled foreign company”.

(3) [F6 Subject to section 748, where] the provisions of this Chapter apply in relation to an accounting period of a controlled foreign company, the chargeable profits of that company for that period and its creditable tax (if any) for that period shall each be apportioned in accordance with section 752 among the persons (whether resident in the United Kingdom or not) who had an interest in that company at any time during that accounting period.

[F7 (3A) In the case of an apportionment to a company resident in the United Kingdom which has made an application under section 751A [F8 , 751AA, 751AB or 751AC] which has been granted, subsection (3) above has effect subject to that section.]

(4) Where, on such an apportionment of a controlled foreign company’s chargeable profits for an accounting period as is referred to in subsection (3) above, an amount of those profits is apportioned to a company resident in the United Kingdom then, subject to subsection (5) below—

(a) a sum equal to corporation tax at the appropriate rate on that apportioned amount of profits, less the portion of the controlled foreign company’s creditable tax for that period (if any) which is apportioned to the resident company, shall be [F9 chargeable on] the resident company as if it were an amount of corporation tax chargeable on that company; F10 . . .

(b) F10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

and for the purposes of paragraph (a) above “the appropriate rate” means the rate of corporation tax applicable to profits of that accounting period of the resident company in which ends the accounting period of the controlled foreign company [F11 which is mentioned in subsection (1) above] or, if there is more than one such rate, the average rate over the whole of that accounting period of the resident company.

[F12 (4A) F13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(4B) F13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .]

(5) Tax shall not, by virtue of subsection (4) above, be [F14 chargeable on] a company resident in the United Kingdom unless, on the apportionment in question, the aggregate of—

(a) the amount of the controlled foreign company’s chargeable profits for the accounting period in question which is apportioned to the resident company, and

(b) any amounts of those chargeable profits which are apportioned to persons who are connected or associated with the resident company,

is at least [F15 25 per cent.] of the total of those chargeable profits.

[F16 (5A) Where the resident company has made an application under section 751A [F8 , 751AA, 751AB or 751AC] which has been granted, it shall be assumed for the purposes of subsection (5) above that—

(a) each of the persons who are connected or associated with the resident company has made an application under that section to the same effect, and

(b) all the applications have been granted.]

(6) In relation to a company resident outside the United Kingdom—

(a) any reference in this Chapter to its chargeable profits for an accounting period is a reference to the amount which, on the assumptions in Schedule 24, would be the amount of the total profits of the company for that period on which, after allowing for any deductions available against those profits, corporation tax would be chargeable;

[F17 (aa) any reference in this Chapter to its chargeable profits for an accounting period includes (subject to subsections (7) to (9)) income which accrues during that accounting period to the trustees of a settlement in relation to which the company is a settlor or a beneficiary;] and

(b) any reference in this Chapter to profits does not include a reference to chargeable gains but otherwise (except as provided by paragraph (a) above) has the same meaning as it has for the purposes of corporation tax.

[F18 (7) Where there is more than one settlor or beneficiary in relation to the settlement mentioned in subsection (6)(aa), the income is to be apportioned between the company and the other settlors or beneficiaries on a just and reasonable basis.

(8) Where income within subsection (6)(aa) is included in the chargeable profits of a company, any dividend or other distribution received by the company which derives from that income is not included in the chargeable profits of the company to the extent that it is so derived.

(9) Any income within subsection (6)(aa) which would (apart from this subsection)—

(a) be included in the chargeable profits of a company which is a beneficiary in relation to a settlement and apportioned under subsection (3), and

(b) be included in the chargeable profits of a company which is a settlor in relation to the settlement and apportioned under that subsection,

is not to be included in the chargeable profits of the company which is a settlor.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in s. 747(1) repealed (with effect in accordance with Sch. 17 para. 37 of the repealing Act) by Finance Act 1998 (c. 36), Sch. 17 para. 1(2)(a), Sch. 27 Pt. 3(27), Note; S.I. 1998/3173, art. 2

F2 Words in s. 747(1) repealed (with effect in accordance with Sch. 17 para. 37 of the repealing Act) by Finance Act 1998 (c. 36), Sch. 17 para. 1(2)(b), Sch. 27 Pt. 3(27), Note; S.I. 1998/3173, art. 2

F3 S. 747(1A) inserted (21.3.2000) by Finance Act 2000 (c. 17), Sch. 31 paras. 3, 9(1)

F4 S. 747(1B) inserted (1.4.2002) by Finance Act 2002 (c. 23), s. 90(1)(2)(a) (with s. 90(2)(b))

F5 Words in s. 747(1B) substituted (1.4.2009 with effect in accordance with s. 1329(1) of the amending Act) by Corporation Tax Act 2009 (c. 4), Sch. 1 para. 217 (with Sch. 2 Pts. 1, 2)

F6 Words in s. 747(3) substituted (with effect in accordance with Sch. 17 para. 37 of the amending Act) by Finance Act 1998 (c. 36), Sch. 17 para. 1(3); S.I. 1998/3173, art. 2

F7 S. 747(3A) inserted (with effect in accordance with Sch. 15 para. 10 of the amending Act) by Finance Act 2007 (c. 11), Sch. 15 para. 1(2)

F8 Words in s. 747(3A)(5A) substituted (with effect in accordance with Sch. 12 para. 14(2) of the amending Act) by Finance Act 2011 (c. 11), Sch. 12 para. 10(a)

F9 Words in s. 747(4)(a) substituted (with effect in accordance with Sch. 17 para. 37 of the amending Act) by Finance Act 1998 (c. 36), Sch. 17 para. 1(4)(a); S.I. 1998/3173, art. 2

F10 S. 747(4)(b) and preceding word repealed (6.4.2007 with effect in accordance with s. 1034(1) of the repealing Act) by Income Tax Act 2007 (c. 3), Sch. 1 para. 178, Sch. 3 Pt. 1 (with Sch. 2)

F11 Words in s. 747(4) substituted (with effect in accordance with Sch. 17 para. 37 of the amending Act) by Finance Act 1998 (c. 36), Sch. 17 para. 1(4)(b); S.I. 1998/3173, art. 2

F12 S. 747(4A)(4B) inserted (1.5.1995) by Finance Act 1995 (c. 4), Sch. 25 para. 3

F13 S. 747(4A)(4B) repealed (with effect in accordance with Sch. 4 para. 24(2) of the repealing Act) by Finance Act 2005 (c. 7), Sch. 11 Pt. 2(6), Note

F14 Words in s. 747(5) substituted (with effect in accordance with Sch. 17 para. 37 of the amending Act) by Finance Act 1998 (c. 36), Sch. 17 para. 1(5)(a); S.I. 1998/3173, art. 2

F15 Words in s. 747(5) substituted (with effect in accordance with Sch. 17 para. 37 of the amending Act) by Finance Act 1998 (c. 36), Sch. 17 para. 1(5)(b); S.I. 1998/3173, art. 2

F16 S. 747(5A) inserted (with effect in accordance with Sch. 15 para. 10 of the amending Act) by Finance Act 2007 (c. 11), Sch. 15 para. 1(3)

F17 S. 747(6)(aa) inserted (with effect in accordance with s. 64(6)(9)-(11) of the amending Act) by Finance Act 2008 (c. 9), s. 64(2)(a)

F18 S. 747(7)-(9) inserted (with effect in accordance with s. 64(6)(9)-(11) of the amending Act) by Finance Act 2008 (c. 9), s. 64(2)(b)

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 S. 747 restricted (28.7.2000) by Finance Act 2000 (c. 17), Sch. 22 para. 54(1)

C2 S. 747 modified (with effect in accordance with Sch. 29 Pt. 14 of the modifying Act) by Finance Act 2002 (c. 23), Sch. 29 para. 116

C3 S. 747A(4)(a) restricted (27.7.1999) by Commonwealth Development Corporation Act 1999 (c. 20), Sch. 3 paras. 1, 2(2); S.I. 2003/1282, art. 2

C4 S. 747(6) applied (6.4.2007 with effect in accordance with s. 1034(1) of the affecting Act) by Income Tax Act 2007 (c. 3), s. 725(3) (with Sch. 2)

Marginal Citations

M1 Source—1984 s.82