Finance Act 1999

2 U.K. The following shall be inserted after section 43 of the Value Added Tax Act 1994—

“43A Groups: eligibility.

(1) Two or more bodies corporate are eligible to be treated as members of a group if each is established or has a fixed establishment in the United Kingdom and—

(a) one of them controls each of the others,

(b) one person (whether a body corporate or an individual) controls all of them, or

(c) two or more individuals carrying on a business in partnership control all of them.

(2) For the purposes of this section a body corporate shall be taken to control another body corporate if it is empowered by statute to control that body’s activities or if it is that body’s holding company within the meaning of section 736 of the M1 Companies Act 1985.

(3) For the purposes of this section an individual or individuals shall be taken to control a body corporate if he or they, were he or they a company, would be that body’s holding company within the meaning of that section.

43B Groups: applications.

(1) This section applies where an application is made to the Commissioners for two or more bodies corporate, which are eligible under section 43A(1), to be treated as members of a group.

(2) This section also applies where two or more bodies corporate are treated as members of a group and an application is made to the Commissioners—

(a) for another body corporate, which is eligible under section 43A(1) to be treated as a member of the group, to be treated as a member of the group,

(b) for a body corporate to cease to be treated as a member of the group,

(c) for a member to be substituted as the group’s representative member, or

(d) for the bodies corporate no longer to be treated as members of a group.

(3) An application with respect to any bodies corporate—

(a) must be made by one of them or by the person controlling them, and

(b) in the case of an application for the bodies to be treated as a group, must appoint one of them as the representative member.

(4) Where this section applies in relation to an application it shall, subject to subsection (6) below, be taken to be granted with effect from—

(a) the day on which the application is received by the Commissioners, or

(b) such earlier or later time as the Commissioners may allow.

(5) The Commissioners may refuse an application, within the period of 90 days starting with the day on which it was received by them, if it appears to them—

(a) in the case of an application such as is mentioned in subsection (1) above, that the bodies corporate are not eligible under section 43A(1) to be treated as members of a group,

(b) in the case of an application such as is mentioned in subsection (2)(a) above, that the body corporate is not eligible under section 43A(1) to be treated as a member of the group, or

(c) in any case, that refusal of the application is necessary for the protection of the revenue.

(6) If the Commissioners refuse an application it shall be taken never to have been granted.

43C Groups: termination of membership.

(1) The Commissioners may, by notice given to a body corporate, terminate its treatment as a member of a group from a date—

(a) which is specified in the notice, and

(b) which is, or falls after, the date on which the notice is given.

(2) The Commissioners may give a notice under subsection (1) above only if it appears to them to be necessary for the protection of the revenue.

(3) Where—

(a) a body is treated as a member of a group, and

(b) it appears to the Commissioners that the body is not, or is no longer, eligible under section 43A(1) to be treated as a member of the group,

the Commissioners shall, by notice given to the body, terminate its treatment as a member of the group from a date specified in the notice.

(4) The date specified in a notice under subsection (3) above may be earlier than the date on which the notice is given but shall not be earlier than—

(a) the first date on which, in the opinion of the Commissioners, the body was not eligible to be treated as a member of the group, or

(b) the date on which, in the opinion of the Commissioners, the body ceased to be eligible to be treated as a member of the group.”

Marginal Citations

M1 1985 c.6.