For section 62 of the Taxes Act 1988 there shall be substituted the following section—
(1)Subsection (2) below applies where, in the case of a trade, profession or vocation—
(a)an accounting change, that is, a change from one accounting date (“the old date”) to another (“the new date”), is made or treated as made in a year of assessment; and
(b)either section 62A applies or the year of assessment is the year next following or next but one following the commencement year.
(2)The basis period for the year of assessment is as follows—
(a)if the year is the year next following the commencement year or the relevant period is a period of less than 12 months, the period of 12 months ending with the new date in the year; and
(b)if the relevant period is a period of more than 12 months, that period;
and in this subsection “the relevant period” means the period beginning immediately after the end of the basis period for the preceding year and ending with the new date in the year.
(3)Where subsection (2) above does not apply as respects an accounting change made or treated as made in a year of assessment (“the first year”), this section and section 62A shall have effect in relation to the next following year (“the second year”) as if the change had not been made or treated as made.
(4)As a consequence of subsection (3) above—
(a)an accounting change shall be treated as made in the second year if the date or, as the case may be, the latest date in that year to which accounts are made up is a date other than the date of the end of the basis period for the first year; and
(b)no such change shall be treated as made in the second year if that date is the date of the end of that period.
(5)For the purposes of this section an accounting change is made in the first year of assessment in which accounts are not made up to the old date, or accounts are made up to the new date, or both.”