Finance Act 1991

65 Reimbursement by defaulter in respect of certain abandonment expenditure

(1) This section applies in any case where—

(a) paragraph 2A of Schedule 5 to the 1975 Act (as set out in section 107 of this Act) applies or would apply if a claim were made as mentioned in sub-paragraph (1)(a) of that paragraph; and

(b) under sub-paragraph (4) of that paragraph the default payment falls, in whole or in part, to be attributed to the qualifying participator (as an addition to his share of the abandonment expenditure); and

(c) expenditure is incurred, or consideration in money’s worth is given, by the defaulter in reimbursing the qualifying participator in respect of, or otherwise making good to him, the whole or any part of the default payment;

and in this section “default payment”, “the defaulter” and “qualifying participator” have the same meaning as in the said paragraph 2A and other expressions have the same meaning as in Chapter V of Part XII of the Taxes Act 1988 (petroleum extraction activities).

(2) In the following provisions of this section “reimbursement expenditure” means expenditure incurred as mentioned in subsection (1)(c) above or consideration (or, as the case may require, the value of consideration) given as so mentioned; and any reference to the incurring of reimbursement expenditure shall be construed accordingly.

(3) Subject to subsection (7) below, reimbursement expenditure shall be allowed as a deduction in computing the defaulter’s ring fence income.

(4) Subject to subsection (7) below, reimbursement expenditure received by the qualifying participator shall be treated as a receipt (in the nature of income) of his ring fence trade for the relevant accounting period.

(5) For the purposes of subsection (4) above, the relevant accounting period is the accounting period in which the reimbursement expenditure is received by the qualifying participator or, if the qualifying participator’s ring fence trade is permanently discontinued before the receipt of the reimbursement expenditure, the last accounting period of that trade.

(6) Any additional assessment to corporation tax required in order to take account of the receipt of reimbursement expenditure by the qualifying participator may be made at any time not later than six years after the end of the calendar year in which the reimbursement expenditure is so received.

(7) In relation to a particular default payment, reimbursement expenditure incurred at any time—

(a) shall be allowed as mentioned in subsection (3) above, and

(b) shall be taken into account in computing the qualifying participator’s ring fence income by virtue of subsection (4) above,

only to the extent that, when aggregated with any reimbursement expenditure previously incurred in respect of that default payment, it does not exceed so much of the default payment as falls to be attributed to the qualifying participator as mentioned in subsection (1)(b) above.

(8) The incurring of reimbursement expenditure shall not be regarded, by virtue of section 153 of the [1990 c. 1.] Capital Allowances Act 1990 (subsidies, contributions etc.), as the meeting of the expenditure of the qualifying participator in making the default payment.