Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003

Supplemental U.K.

701 Meaning of “asset” U.K.

(1) In this Chapter “asset” includes any property and in particular any investment of a kind specified in Part 3 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001 (S.I. 2001/544).

This is subject to subsection (2).

(2) In this Chapter “asset” does not include—

(a) any payment actually made of, or on account of, PAYE income;

(b) subject to section 700(6), any cash voucher, non-cash voucher or credit-token;

(c) the following—

(i) any shares acquired by the employee (whether or not as a result of the exercise of a right to acquire shares) under a scheme approved under Schedule 3 (approved SAYE option schemes) or 4 (approved CSOP schemes), or Schedule 9 to ICTA (approved profit sharing schemes),

(ii) any right over or interest in shares obtained or acquired by the employee under such a scheme, or

(iii) any shares acquired by the employee as the result of the exercise of a right over shares obtained before 27th November 1996,

if the shares in question form part of the ordinary share capital of a company falling within subsection (3); or

(d) any description of property for the time being excluded from the scope of this section by PAYE regulations.

(3) A company falls within this subsection if it—

(a) is the employer (“the employer company”);

(b) has control of the employer company; or

(c) either is, or has control of, a company which is a member of a consortium owning either the employer company or a company having control of the employer company.

(4) In this section “share” includes stock.

(5) For the purposes of this section a company is a member of a consortium owning another company if it is one of a number of companies which between them beneficially own not less than 75% of the other company’s ordinary share capital and each of which beneficially owns not less than 5% of that capital.

702 Meaning of “readily convertible asset” U.K.

(1) In this Chapter “readily convertible asset” means—

(a) an asset capable of being sold or otherwise realised on—

(i) a recognised investment exchange (within the meaning of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (c. 8)),

(ii) the London Bullion Market,

(iii) the New York Stock Exchange, or

(iv) a market for the time being specified in PAYE regulations;

(b) an asset consisting in—

(i) the rights of an assignee, or any other rights, in respect of a money debt that is or may become due to the employer or any other person,

(ii) property that is subject to a warehousing regime, or any right in respect of property so subject, or

(iii) anything that is likely (without anything being done by the employee) to give rise to, or to become, a right enabling a person to obtain an amount or total amount of money which is likely to be similar to the expense incurred in the provision of the asset; or

(c) an asset for which trading arrangements are in existence, or are likely to come into existence in accordance with—

(i) any arrangements of another description existing when the asset is provided, or

(ii) any understanding existing at that time.

(2) For the purposes of this section trading arrangements for any asset provided to any person exist whenever there exist any arrangements the effect of which in relation to that asset is to enable—

(a) that person, or

(b) a member of that person’s family or household,

to obtain an amount or total amount of money that is, or is likely to be, similar to the expense incurred in the provision of that asset.

(3) PAYE regulations may exclude any description of arrangements from being trading arrangements for the purposes of this section.

(4) References in this section to enabling a person to obtain an amount of money are to be read—

(a) as references to enabling an amount to be obtained by that person by any means at all, including in particular—

(i) by using any asset or other property as security for a loan or advance, or

(ii) by using any rights comprised in or attached to any asset or other property to obtain any asset for which trading arrangements exist; and

(b) as including references to cases where a person is enabled to obtain an amount as a member of a class or description of persons, as well as where the person is so enabled in the person’s own right.

(5) For the purposes of this section an amount is similar to the expense incurred in the provision of any asset if it is, or is an amount of money equivalent to—

(a) the amount of the expense so incurred, or

(b) a greater amount, or

(c) an amount that is less than that amount but not substantially so.

(6) In this section—

• “money” includes money expressed in a currency other than sterling;

• “money debt” means any obligation which falls to be, or may be, settled—

  (a)

  by the payment of money, or

  (b)

  by the transfer of a right to settlement under an obligation which is itself a money debt;

• “warehousing regime” means—

  (a)

  a warehousing or fiscal warehousing regime (within the meaning of sections 18 to 18F of the Value Added Tax Act 1994 (c. 23)); or

  (b)

  any corresponding arrangements in a State other than the United Kingdom which is a Contracting Party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area signed at Oporto on 2nd May 1992 as adjusted by the Protocol signed at Brussels on 17th March 1993.