Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988

790 Unilateral relief. U.K.

(1) M1 To the extent appearing from the following provisions of this section, relief from income tax and corporation tax in respect of income and chargeable gains shall be given in respect of tax payable under the law of any territory outside the United Kingdom by allowing that tax as a credit against income tax or corporation tax, notwithstanding that there are not for the time being in force any arrangements under section 788 providing for such relief.

(2) Relief under subsection (1) above is referred to in this Part as “unilateral relief”.

(3) M2 Unilateral relief shall be such relief as would fall to be given under Chapter II of this Part if arrangements [F1 in relation to] the territory in question containing the provisions specified in subsections (4) to [F2 (10C)] below were in force by virtue of section 788, but subject to any particular provision made with respect to unilateral relief in that Chapter; and any expression in that Chapter which imports a reference to relief under arrangements for the time being having effect by virtue of that section shall be deemed to import also a reference to unilateral relief.

(4) M3 Credit for tax paid under the law of the territory outside the United Kingdom and computed by reference to income arising or any chargeable gain accruing in that territory shall be allowed against any United Kingdom income tax or corporation tax computed by reference to that income or gain (profits from, or remuneration for, personal or professional services performed in that territory being deemed for this purpose to be income arising in that territory).

(5) Subsection (4) above shall have effect subject to the following modifications, that is to say—

(a) where the territory is the Isle of Man or any of the Channel Islands, the limitation to income or gains arising in the territory shall not apply;

(b) where arrangements [F1 in relation to] the territory are for the time being in force by virtue of section 788, credit for tax paid under the law of the territory shall not be allowed by virtue of subsection (4) above in the case of any income or gains if any credit for that tax is allowable under those arrangements in respect of that income or those gains; and

(c) credit shall not be allowed by virtue of subsection (4) above for overseas tax on a dividend paid by a company resident in the territory unless—

(i) the overseas tax is directly charged on the dividend, whether by charge to tax, deduction of tax at source or otherwise, and the whole of it represents tax which neither the company nor the recipient would have borne if the dividend had not been paid; or

(ii) the dividend is paid to a company within subsection (6) below; or

(iii) the dividend is paid to a company to which section 802(1) applies and is a dividend of the kind described in that subsection.

(6) M4 Where a dividend paid by a company resident in the territory is paid to a [F3 company falling within subsection (6A) below] which either directly or indirectly controls, or is a subsidiary of a company which directly or indirectly controls—

(a) not less than 10 per cent. of the voting power in the company paying the dividend; or

(b) less than 10 per cent. of the voting power in the company paying the dividend if—

(i) it has been reduced below that percentage on or after 1st April 1972; or

(ii) it has been acquired on or after that date in exchange for voting power in another company in respect of which relief under this subsection by virtue of paragraph (a) above was due prior to the exchange;

and the company receiving the dividend shows that the conditions specified in subsection (7) below are satisfied;

any tax in respect of its profits paid under the law of the territory by the company paying the dividend shall be taken into account in considering whether any, and if so what, credit is to be allowed in respect of the dividend.

In this subsection references to one company being a subsidiary of another are to be construed in accordance with section 792(2).

[F4 (6A) A company falls within this subsection if—

(a) it is resident in the United Kingdom; or

(b) it is resident outside the United Kingdom but the dividend mentioned in subsection (6) above forms part of the profits of a [F5 permanent establishment] of the company’s in the United Kingdom.]

(7) The conditions referred to in subsection (6)(b) above are as follows—

(a) that the reduction below the 10 per cent. limit (and any further reduction) or, as the case may be, the exchange (and any reduction thereafter) could not have been prevented by any reasonable endeavours on the part of the company receiving the dividend and was due to a cause or causes not reasonably foreseeable by it when control of the relevant voting power was acquired; and

(b) no reasonable endeavours on the part of that company could have restored or, as the case may be, increased the voting power to not less than 10 per cent.

(8) In subsection (7) above references to the company receiving the dividend include references—

(a) to any company of which it is a subsidiary within the meaning of section 792(2); and

(b) where prior to the reduction or exchange the voting power in question was controlled otherwise than directly by the company receiving the dividend, to each other company relevant for determining whether that voting power was controlled as required by subsection (6)(a) above.

(9) In subsection (7) above “the relevant voting power” means the voting power by virtue of which relief was due under subsection (6)(a) above prior to the reduction or exchange or, where control of the whole of that voting power was not acquired at the same time, that part of the voting power of which control was last acquired.

(10) In any case in which relief in respect of a dividend is due by virtue of subsection (6)(b) above, there shall be taken into account, as if it were tax payable under the law of the territory in which the company paying the dividend is resident, any tax that would be so taken into account under section 801 if the company paying the dividend and the company receiving it were related to each other within the meaning of section 801(5).

[F6 (10A) In any case where—

(a) under the law of the territory outside the United Kingdom, an amount of tax (“the spared tax”) would, but for a relief, have been payable by a company resident in that territory (“company A”) in respect of any of its profits,

(b) company A pays a dividend out of those profits to another company resident in that territory (“company B”),

(c) company B, out of profits which consist of or include the whole or part of that dividend, pays a dividend to a company resident in the United Kingdom (“company C”), and

(d) the circumstances are such that, had company B been resident in the United Kingdom, it would have been entitled, under arrangements made [F1 in relation to] the territory outside the United Kingdom and having effect by virtue of section 788, to a relief to which subsection (5) of that section applies in respect of the spared tax,

subsection (10B) below shall apply.

(10B) In any case falling within subsection (10A) above, the spared tax shall be taken into account for the purposes of—

(a) the other provisions of this section, and

(b) subject to section 795(3), Chapter II of this Part in its application to relief under this section in relation to the dividend paid to company C,

as if it had been payable and paid; and references in this section and that Chapter to double taxation, to tax payable or chargeable, or to tax not chargeable directly or by deduction shall be construed accordingly.

(10C) Except as provided by subsection (10B) above, in relation to any dividend paid—

(a) to a company resident in the United Kingdom,

(b) by a company resident in the territory outside the United Kingdom,

credit by virtue of section 801 does not fall to be given by virtue of this section in respect of tax which would have been payable under the law of that or any other territory outside the United Kingdom but for a relief (notwithstanding any arrangements made [F1 in relation to] that or any other territory outside the United Kingdom which have effect by virtue of section 788 and provide for a relief to which subsection (5) of that section applies).]

(11) M5 Where—

(a) unilateral relief may by given in respect of any income or chargeable gain, and

(b) it appears that the assessment to income tax or corporation tax made in respect of the income or chargeable gain is not made in respect of the full amount thereof, or is incorrect having regard to the credit, if any, which falls to be given by way of unilateral relief,

any such assessments may be made as are necessary to ensure that the total amount of the income or chargeable gain is assessed, and the proper credit, if any, is given in respect thereof, and, where the income is, or the chargeable gain is, entrusted to any person in the United Kingdom for payment, any such assessment may be made on the recipient of the income or gain F7 . . . .

(12) In this section and in Chapter II of this Part in its application to unilateral relief, references to tax payable or paid under the law of a territory outside the United Kingdom include only references—

(a) to taxes which are charged on income and which correspond to United Kingdom income tax, and

(b) to taxes which are charged on income or chargeable gains and which correspond to United Kingdom corporation tax;

but for this purpose tax under the law of any such territory shall not be treated as not corresponding to income tax or corporation tax by reason only that it is payable under the law of a province, state or other part of a country, or is levied by or on behalf of a municipality or other local body.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in s. 790(3)(5)(b)(10A)(d)(10C) substituted (with effect in accordance with s. 88(3) of the amending Act) by Finance Act 2002 (c. 23), s. 88(2)(a)

F2 Words in s. 790(3) substituted (with effect in accordance with Sch. 30 para. 3(4) of the amending Act) by Finance Act 2000 (c. 17), Sch. 30 para. 3(2)

F3 Words in s. 790(6) substituted (with effect in accordance with Sch. 30 para. 4(14) of the amending Act) by Finance Act 2000 (c. 17), Sch. 30 para. 4(2)

F4 S. 790(6A) inserted (with effect in accordance with Sch. 30 para. 4(14) of the amending Act) by Finance Act 2000 (c. 17), Sch. 30 para. 4(3)

F5 Words in s. 790(6A)(b) substituted (with effect in accordance with s. 153(4) of the amending Act) by Finance Act 2003 (c. 14), s. 153(1)(a)

F6 S. 790(10A)-(10C) inserted (with effect in accordance with Sch. 30 para. 3(4) of the amending Act) by Finance Act 2000 (c. 17), Sch. 30 para. 3(3)

F7 Words in s. 790(11) repealed (1.4.2009 with effect in accordance with s. 1329(1) of the repealing Act) by Corporation Tax Act 2009 (c. 4), Sch. 1 para. 244, Sch. 3 Pt. 1 (with Sch. 2 Pts. 1, 2)

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 S. 790 restricted (28.7.2000) by Finance Act 2000 (c. 17), Sch. 22 para. 57

Marginal Citations

M1 Source—1970 s.498(1); 1972 s.100(1)

M2 Source—1970 s.498(2)

M3 Source—1970 s.498(3); 1972 s.100(1)

M4 Source—1970 s.498(4); 1971 s.26(3); 1972 s.83(1)-(5)

M5 Source—1970 s.498(5), (6); 1972 s.100(1)