The Income and Corporation Taxes (Electronic Certificates of Deduction of Tax and Tax Credit) Regulations 2003

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations authorise the electronic delivery of certain documents, required or permitted to be given under the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 (c. 1: “the Taxes Act”) and regulations made under it.

Regulation 1 deals with the citation and commencement of the Regulations and the interpretation of expressions used in them.

Regulation 2 authorises the electronic delivery of information about distributions required under section 234 of the Taxes Act.

Regulation 3 authorises the electronic delivery of a statement of the deduction of tax, to be given under section 352 of the Taxes Act, and the electronic delivery of a request for such a statement.

Regulation 4 authorises the electronic delivery of certain documents required or authorised to be furnished in connection with dividend manufacturing.

In each case electronic delivery is authorised only if three conditions are met. The first is that the sender of the information has previously notified the recipient that he intends to use electronic communications for the particular purpose. The second is that the recipient has consented to electronic delivery of information by the sender and that consent has not been withdrawn. The third is that the electronic format used is designed to prevent alteration of what is delivered, but nonetheless permits a copy of what is delivered to be printed or kept in electronic format.

Regulation 5 makes amendments to the Income Tax (Manufactured Overseas Dividends) Regulations 1993 (S.I. 1993/2004) so that a person keeping records under regulations 6, 7 and 14 of those Regulations in electronic format must afford an officer of the Board such assistance and facilities as the officer may reasonably require in order to read those records.

A partial Regulatory Impact Assessment has been published by the Inland Revenue and is available on the Inland Revenue website at www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk or by telephoning the Revenue’s Press Office on 020 7438 6420.