Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003

Employee benefit trusts

550 Meaning of “employee benefit trust”

(1) In this Chapter “employee benefit trust”, in relation to a company, means a trust where conditions A and B are met.

(2) Condition A is that all or most of the employees of the company are eligible to benefit under the trust.

(3) Condition B is that after 13th March 1989 either—

(a) there has been no disposal of any of the property subject to the trust, or

(b) any disposal of any of that property was a disposal within subsection (4).

(4) The disposals within this subsection are—

(a) disposals in the ordinary management of the trust, or

(b) qualifying disposals (within the meaning given by section 551).

(5) In this section and section 551 “disposal” means disposal by sale, loan or otherwise.

551 “Qualifying disposals” for purposes of section 550

(1) For the purposes of section 550 (meaning of “employee benefit trust”) a “qualifying disposal” is a disposal of property consisting of—

(a) any of the ordinary share capital of the company, or

(b) money paid outright,

where any of conditions 1, 2 and 3 is met.

(2) Condition 1 is that the property has been applied for the benefit of—

(a) individual employees or former employees of the company,

(b) spouses, former spouses, widows or widowers of employees or former employees of the company,

(c) dependants of persons within paragraph (a), or

(d) relatives, or spouses of relatives, of persons within paragraph (a) or (b).

(3) In subsection (2) each reference to the company includes a reference to a company controlled by the company.

(4) Condition 2 is that the property has been applied for charitable purposes.

(5) Condition 3 is that the property has been transferred to—

(a) the trustees of another employee benefit trust,

(b) the trustees of a qualifying employee share ownership trust (within the meaning of Schedule 5 to FA 1989), or

(c) the trustees of a profit sharing scheme approved under Schedule 9 to ICTA (approved share option schemes and profit sharing schemes).

(6) In this section “relative” means—

(a) parent, child or remoter relation in the direct line, or

(b) brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece.