The Insurance Companies (Overseas Life Assurance Business) (Excluded Business) (Amendment) Regulations 2007

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Insurance Companies (Overseas Life Assurance Business) (Excluded Business) Regulations 2000 (S.I. 2000/2089: “the principal Regulations”). The principal Regulations provide for certain life assurance business to be excluded from the definition of “overseas life assurance business” in section 431D(1) of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 (c. 1) (meaning of “overseas life assurance business”).

Regulation 1 provides for citation, commencement and effect.

Regulation 2 introduces the amendments to the principal Regulations which are contained in regulations 3 to 5.

Regulations 3 and 5 respectively amend regulation 3 (life assurance business excluded from section 431D) and insert a new regulation 9 (circumstances where business prescribed for the purposes of section 431D(1A)(d)) so as to exclude a class of life assurance business from the definition of “overseas life assurance business”. The new exclusion is intended to replace section 441B of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 which treats certain business as basic life assurance and general annuity business.

Regulation 4 makes a technical amendment simplifying regulation 7 (circumstances where business not excluded from section 431D).

Regulation 6 makes amendments to enactments which are consequential on the replacement of section 441B by the new exclusion provided for by the amendments made to the principal Regulations.

These Regulations, together with legislation in the Finance Act 2007 (c. 11), are part of the outcome of a continuing consultation process. A draft regulatory impact assessment was included as part of a consultation document, “Life Assurance Company Taxation – A Technical Consultative Document”, which was published by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs in May 2006. This is available at www.hmrc.gov.uk/consultations.