For the purposes of the Corporation Tax Acts, except in so far as the context otherwise requires—

• “accounting date” means the date to which a company makes up its accounts and “period of account” means the period for which it does so;

• “accounting period” shall be construed in accordance with section 12;

• “allowable loss” does not include, for the purposes of corporation tax in respect of chargeable gains, a loss accruing to a company in such circumstances that if a gain accrued the company would be exempt from corporation tax in respect of it;

• “branch or agency” means any factorship, agency, receivership, branch or management;

• “charges on income” has the meaning given by section 338;

• “the financial year 1988” means the financial year beginning with April 1988, and similarly with references embodying other dates;

• “group relief” has the meaning given by section 402.

Section 6(4) shall also apply for the purposes of the following provisions of this Act, that is to say—

• Chapter II of Part X, except section 395;

• sections 75 and 76;

• section 490;

• sections 768 and 769;

and also for sections F1144 and 145 of the 1990 Act.

For all the purposes of the Corporation Tax Acts dividends shall be treated as paid on the date when they become due and payable, F2except in so far as Chapter III of Part XII makes other provision for dividends treated as paid by virtue of that Chapter.

Except as otherwise provided by the Corporation Tax Acts, any apportionment to different periods which falls to be made under those Acts shall be made on a time basis according to the respective lengths of those periods.