Finance Act 2009

Corporation tax

50 After section 58 insert—

“58A Short-term hiring in and long-term hiring out

(1) Section 56 does not apply to expenses incurred by a company (“the taxpayer”) on the hiring of a car if condition A or B is met.

(2) Condition A is that—

(a) the expenses are incurred in respect of the making available of the car to the taxpayer for a period (“the hire period”) of not more than 45 consecutive days, and

(b) if the car is made available to the taxpayer (whether by the same person or different persons) for one or more periods linked to the hire period, the hire period and the linked period or periods, taken together, consist of not more than 45 days.

(3) Condition B is that the expenses are incurred in respect of a period (“the sub-hire period”) throughout which the taxpayer makes the car available to another person (“the customer”) and—

(a) the sub-hire period consists of more than 45 consecutive days, or

(b) if the taxpayer makes the car available to the customer throughout one or more periods linked to the sub-hire period, the sub-hire period and the linked period or periods, taken together, consist of more than 45 days,

but see subsection (4).

(4) Condition B is not met if—

(a) the customer is an employee or officer of the taxpayer or of a person connected with the taxpayer, or

(b) during all or part of the sub-hire period (or any period linked to the sub-hire period), the customer makes any car available to an employee or officer of the taxpayer under arrangements with the taxpayer or with a person connected with the taxpayer.

(5) Neither condition A nor condition B is met if the car is hired under arrangements the purpose, or one of the main purposes, of which is—

(a) to disapply or reduce the effect of section 56, or

(b) other avoidance of tax.

(6) For the purposes of condition B the expenses incurred by the taxpayer on the hiring of the car must be apportioned between—

(a) the sub-hire period, and

(b) the remainder of the period during which the car is made available to the taxpayer,

according to the respective lengths of those periods.

(7) A period of consecutive days (“the main period”) is linked to—

(a) a period of consecutive days that ends not more than 14 days before the main period begins,

(b) a period of consecutive days that begins not more than 14 days after the main period ends, and

(c) a period of consecutive days linked to a period in paragraph (a) or (b).

(8) For the purposes of this section, where arrangements for the hiring of a car include arrangements for the provision of a replacement car in the event that the first car is not available, the first car and any replacement car are to be treated as if they were the same car.

(9) In this section (and section 58B) “arrangements” includes any arrangements, scheme or understanding of any kind, whether or not legally enforceable and whether involving a single transaction or two or more transactions.

58B Connected persons: application of section 56

(1) This section applies where connected persons incur expenses on the hiring of the same car for the same period and—

(a) section 56 would (but for this section) apply to the expenses of two or more of those persons, or

(b) section 56 and section 48 of ITTOIA 2005 would (but for this section and section 50B of that Act) each apply to the expenses of at least one of those persons.

(2) This section only applies where one or more of the persons mentioned in subsection (1)(a) or (b) incurs the expenses under commercial arrangements (and such a person is referred to below as a “commercial lessee”).

(3) In relation to the expenses mentioned in subsection (1) to which section 56 would (but for this section) apply, section 56 only applies to the following—

(a) where there is one commercial lessee, any such expenses incurred by that lessee, and

(b) where there is more than one, any such expenses incurred by the first commercial lessee in the chain of arrangements for the hiring of the car for the period.

(4) In this section—

(a) references to expenses incurred by a commercial lessee include expenses incurred in that or any other capacity, and

(b) “commercial arrangements” means arrangements the terms of which are such as would reasonably have been expected if the parties to the arrangements had been dealing at arm’s length.”