Finance Act 1996

[F1 19 (1) This paragraph applies where— U.K.

(a) a trade, profession or business is carried on by persons in partnership (“the firm”);

(b) any of those persons is a company (a “company partner”); and

(c) a money debt is owed by or to the firm.

(2) In any such case—

(a) in computing the profits and losses of the trade, profession or business for the purposes of corporation tax in accordance with section 114(1) of the Taxes Act 1988 (computation as if the partnership were a company) no debits or credits shall be brought into account under this Chapter in relation to the money debt or any loan relationship that would fall to be treated for the purposes of the computation as arising from the money debt; but

(b) debits and credits shall be brought into account under this Chapter in relation to the money debt (and any loan relationship treated as arising from it) in accordance with the following provisions of this paragraph by each company partner for each of its accounting periods in which the conditions in sub-paragraph (1) above are satisfied.

(3) The debits and credits to be brought into account as mentioned in sub-paragraph (2)(b) above shall be determined separately in the case of each company partner.

(4) For the purpose of determining those debits and credits in the case of any particular company partner—

(a) the money debt owed by or to the firm shall be treated as if it were instead owed by or, as the case may be, to that company partner, for the purposes of the trade, profession or business which that company partner carries on,

(b) the money debt shall continue to be regarded as arising from a transaction for the lending of money if that is in fact the case (so that the company partner is treated as having a loan relationship), and

(c) anything done by or in relation to the firm in connection with the money debt shall be treated as done by or in relation to the company partner,

and debits and credits (the “gross debits and credits”) shall be determined accordingly.

(5) The debits and credits to be brought into account under this Chapter pursuant to sub-paragraph (2)(b) above in the case of any particular company partner shall be that company partner’s appropriate share of the gross debits and credits determined in accordance with sub-paragraph (4) above in the case of that company partner.

(6) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (5) above, the “appropriate share”, in the case of a company partner, is the share that would be apportioned to that company partner if—

(a) the gross debits and credits determined in accordance with sub-paragraph (4) above in the case of that company partner fell to be apportioned between the partners; and

(b) the apportionment fell to be made in the shares in which any profit or loss computed in accordance with subsection (1) of section 114 of the Taxes Act 1988 would be apportioned between them under subsection (2) of that section.

(7) If, in a case where the money debt owed by or to the firm arises from a transaction for the lending of money, there is a time in an accounting period of any company at which—

(a) a person who is a company partner stands in relation to the debt in the position of a creditor (if it is owed by the firm) or a debtor (if it is owed to the firm) and accordingly has a creditor relationship or debtor relationship (as the case may be),

(b) that company partner, whether alone or taken together with one or more other company partners connected with it, controls the partnership, and

(c) that or any other company partner falls to be treated in accordance with sub-paragraph (4) above as if it had the debtor relationship or creditor relationship that corresponds to the creditor relationship or debtor relationship mentioned in paragraph (a) above,

sub-paragraph (8) below shall apply with respect to that accounting period, if it is an accounting period of a company partner mentioned in paragraph (a) or (c) above.

(8) Where this sub-paragraph applies, there shall be taken for the purposes of this Chapter to be a connection by virtue of section 87(3)(a) of this Act for the accounting period of the company partner mentioned in paragraph (a) of sub-paragraph (7) above, between that company partner and each company partner (including that company partner) that falls within paragraph (c) of that sub-paragraph.

(9) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (7) above, one company partner is connected with another at any time in an accounting period if at that or any other time in the accounting period one controls the other or both are under the control of the same person.

(10) The only accounting method authorised for use by a company partner in determining the debits and credits to be brought into account under this paragraph is an authorised accruals basis of accounting, but this sub-paragraph is subject to sub-paragraph (11) below.

(11) Where the company partner uses an authorised mark to market basis of accounting in relation to its interest in the partnership, the only accounting method authorised for use in determining the debits and credits to be brought into account under this paragraph by that company partner is an authorised mark to market basis of accounting, unless a provision of this Chapter requires the use of an authorised accruals basis of accounting.

(12) Subsection (3) of section 84A of this Act does not apply in relation to a company partner as respects the debits and credits to be brought into account by virtue of this paragraph except to the extent that, in the accounts of the firm, exchange gains and losses are carried to or sustained by a reserve in a manner corresponding to that described in that section in relation to a company.

(13) Where the firm holds a relevant discounted security, within the meaning of paragraph 17 above, each of the partners shall be treated for the purposes of this paragraph as beneficially entitled to that share of the security to which he would be entitled if all the partners were companies and such an apportionment as is described in sub-paragraph (6)(b) above were made.

(14) In this paragraph “control”—

(a) in relation to a company, has the same meaning as in section 87 of this Act (see section 87A); and

(b) in relation to a partnership, has the meaning given by section 840 of the Taxes Act 1988.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Sch. 9 para. 19 and cross-heading inserted (24.7.2002 with effect as mentioned in s. 82(2) of the amending Act) by Finance Act 2002 (c. 23), s. 82(1), Sch. 25 Pt. 1 para. 35