Finance Act 1990

62 CT treatment of PRT repayment

(1) In section 500 of the Taxes Act 1988 (deduction of PRT in computing income for corporation tax purposes), in subsection (4) (reduction or extinguishment of deduction where PRT repaid)—

(a) at the beginning there shall be inserted the words “Subject to the following provisions of this section”; and

(b) for the words “accounting period” there shall be substituted “calendar year”.

(2) For subsection (5) of that section there shall be substituted the following subsections—

“(5) If, in a case where paragraph 17 of Schedule 2 to the 1975 Act applies, an amount of petroleum revenue tax in respect of which a deduction has been made under subsection (1) above is repaid by virtue of an assessment under that Schedule or an amendment of such an assessment, then, so far as concerns so much of that repayment as constitutes the appropriate repayment,—

(a) subsection (4) above shall not apply; and

(b) the following provisions of this section shall apply in relation to the company which is entitled to the repayment.

(6) In subsection (5) above and the following provisions of this section—

(a) “the appropriate repayment” has the meaning assigned by sub-paragraph (2) of paragraph 17 of Schedule 2 to the 1975 Act;

(b) in relation to the appropriate repayment, a “carried back loss” means an allowable loss which falls within sub-paragraph (1)(a) of that paragraph and which (alone or together with one or more other carried back losses) gives rise to the appropriate repayment;

(c) in relation to a carried back loss, “the operative chargeable period” means the chargeable period in which the loss accrued; and

(d) in relation to the company which is entitled to the appropriate repayment, “the relevant accounting period” means the accounting period in or at the end of which ends the operative chargeable period or, if the company’s ring fence trade is permanently discontinued before the end of the operative chargeable period, the last accounting period of that trade.

(7) In computing for corporation tax the amount of the company’s income arising in the relevant accounting period from oil extraction activities or oil rights there shall be added an amount equal to the appropriate repayment; but this subsection has effect subject to subsection (8) below in any case where—

(a) two or more carried back losses give rise to the appropriate repayment; and

(b) the operative chargeable period in relation to each of the carried back losses is not the same; and

(c) if subsection (6)(d) above were applied separately in relation to each of the carried back losses there would be more than one relevant accounting period.

(8) Where paragraphs (a) to (c) of subsection (7) above apply, the appropriate repayment shall be treated as apportioned between each of the relevant accounting periods referred to in paragraph (c) of that subsection in such manner as to secure that the amount added by virtue of that subsection in relation to each of those relevant accounting periods is what it would have been if—

(a) relief for each of the carried back losses for which there is a different operative chargeable period had been given by a separate assessment or amendment of an assessment under Schedule 2 to the 1975 Act; and

(b) relief for a carried back loss accruing in an earlier chargeable period had been so given before relief for a carried back loss accruing in a later chargeable period.

(9) Any additional assessment to corporation tax required in order to give effect to the addition of an amount by virtue of subsection (7) above may be made at any time not later than six years after the end of the calendar year in which is made the repayment of petroleum revenue tax comprising the appropriate repayment.

(10) In this section “allowable loss” and “chargeable period” have the same meaning as in Part I of the 1975 Act and “calendar year” means a period of twelve months beginning on 1st January.”

(3) At the end of section 502(1) of the Taxes Act 1988 (defined expressions for Chapter V of Part XII) there shall be added “and

“ring fence trade” means activities which—

(a) fall within any of paragraphs (a) to (c) of subsection (1) of section 492; and

(b) constitute a separate trade (whether by virtue of that subsection or otherwise)”.