Finance Act 2005

82 Change of accounting practice: deferment of transitional adjustments U.K.

(1) This section applies where—

(a) a company enters into a transaction on or after 14th December 2004, otherwise than in the ordinary course of its business,

(b) as a result of the transaction it incurs a loss in respect of a loan relationship or derivative contract in respect of which, apart from this section, a debit would fall to be brought into account for tax purposes in a period of account beginning before 1st January 2005,

(c) the sole or main purpose of the company in entering into the transaction at the time it did was to enable it to bring a debit into account for tax purposes in such a period, and

(d) if the company had continued to hold the asset or liability representing the loan relationship or derivative contract, as it was held immediately before the transaction referred to in paragraph (a), in its first period of account beginning on or after 1st January 2005, a debit would have arisen in respect of the loan relationship or derivative contract in that period that was a prescribed debit for the purposes of regulation 3 of the Loan Relationship and Derivative Contracts (Change of Accounting Practice) Regulations 2004 (S.I. 2004/3271) (debits not to be brought into account until the company's first period beginning on or after 1st January 2006).

(2) Where this section applies no such debit as is mentioned in subsection (1)(b) shall be brought into account in the period of account mentioned there, but a debit of the same amount shall instead be brought into account as if it were a prescribed debit for the purposes of the regulation referred to in subsection (1)(d) (even though the loss giving rise to the debit was incurred before 1st January 2005).

(3) In determining the sole or main purpose of a company for the purposes of subsection (1)(c) regard shall be had to anything done by a connected company that would be relevant for the purposes of that determination if done by the company in question.

For this purpose companies are connected if they are connected persons within the meaning of section 839 of ICTA.

(4) For the purposes of subsection (1)(d) it shall be assumed that the loan relationship or derivative contract has the same value at the beginning of the company's first period of account beginning on or after 1st January 2005 as it had at the time of the transaction referred to in subsection (1)(a).

(5) This section does not apply where the transaction is entered into in pursuance of legally binding arrangements entered into before 14th December 2004.

(6) In this section, references to a company entering into a transaction include a reference to the company, or the directors of the company, taking a decision about a loan relationship or derivative contract that affects its treatment for accounting purposes (other than a decision to prepare some or all of the company's accounts in accordance with international accounting standards).