Section 40: Determination of Beneficial Entitlement for Purposes of Group Relief
Summary
1.This section makes a specific change to the types of arrangements that are exempt from the anti-avoidance rules affecting the group relief rules contained in Part 5 of the Corporation Tax Act (CTA) 2010.
Details of the Section
2.The section amends section 169 of CTA 2010 which provides the definition of “arrangements” for the purposes of the anti-avoidance rules in sections 171 to 174. These sections restrict access to group relief were there are arrangements in place meaning that at some point in the future one company’s rights over the profits or assets of another company could change.
3.Subsection (2)(a) splits the definition of “arrangements” in section 169(2) into two. Subsection (a) retains the existing wording. Subsection (b) provides that “arrangements” does not include conditions or requirements imposed by, or agreed with, Ministers or statutory bodies.
4.Subsection (2)(b) inserts new subsection (3) which provides a definition of statutory body for the purposes of section 169(2).
5.Subsection (3) extends the exclusion to the definition of “company” in section 188(1) to include section 169(3).
6.Subsection (4) provides that the changes made by the section are for accounting periods ending on or after 1 January 2015.
Background Note
7.Currently some statutory public bodies set down conditions or requirements for companies (who are members of wider groups) operating in specific sectors, which mean they may be inadvertently caught by the anti-avoidance rules in sections 171 to 174 of CTA 2010 restricting the flow of group relief.
8.For accounting periods ending on or after 1 January 2015, any such conditions imposed by, or agreed with, Ministers or a statutory public body will not be arrangements that restrict the flow of group relief.
