Finance Act 1953

21 Unremittable overseas profits

(1) Where a person is chargeable to income tax, the profits tax or the excess profits levy by reference to the amount of any profits or income arising in a territory outside the United Kingdom (hereafter in this section referred to as " overseas income "), then for the purposes of those taxes this section shall apply to the overseas income in so far as—

(a) he is prevented from transferring the amount of the overseas income to the United Kingdom, either by the Jaws of that territory or any executive action of its Government or by the impossibility of obtaining foreign currency in that territory ; and

(b) he has not realised the overseas income outside that territory for a consideration in sterling or a consideration in some other currency which he is not prevented from transferring to the United Kingdom.

Overseas income to which this section applies is hereafter in this section referred to as unremittable.

(2) Where a person chargeable as aforesaid gives written notice of his desire to be assessed in accordance with this subsection, then, in the first instance, account shall not be taken of the overseas income to the extent to which he shows to the satisfaction of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue that the following conditions are satisfied with respect to it, that is to say—

(a) that it is unremittable; and

(b) that paragraph (a) of the foregoing subsection would continue to apply notwithstanding any reasonable endeavours on his part,

and tax shall be assessed and charged on all persons concerned and for all periods accordingly; but, on the Commissioners of Inland Revenue ceasing, as respects any part of the income, to be satisfied that the said conditions are satisfied, such additional assessments, reductions of assessments and repayments of tax shall be made as may be necessary to take account of it, and of any tax payable in respect of it under the law of the territory where it arises, according to their value at the date when, in the opinion of those Commissioners, the said conditions cease to be satisfied with respect to it, and may be so made at any time not later than six years after that date.

(3) Any notice under the last foregoing subsection shall relate to all tax (whether income tax, profits tax or excess profits levy) with which the person giving the notice is or may become chargeable by reference to the overseas income to which the notice relates, and shall be delivered to the surveyor before an assessment made by reference to that income otherwise than in accordance with that subsection (or, in the case of a person chargeable to more than one tax by reference to it, an assessment to each of those taxes) has become final and conclusive ; and there shall be made all such additional assessments, reductions of assessments or repayments of tax as may be required by reason of any such notice.

(4) In the case of the death of a person who, if he had not died, would, under subsection (2) of this section, have become chargeable to any income tax, the tax which would have been so chargeable shall be assessed and charged upon his executors or administrators, and shall be a debt due from and payable out of his estate.

(5) Subject to subsection (2) of this section, the amount of any unremittable overseas income shall be determined by reference to the generally recognised market value in the United Kingdom (if any) or, in the absence of any such value, according to the official rate of exchange of the territory where the income arises.

(6) Any appeal against an assessment which involves a question as to the operation of this section shall be made to the Special Commissioners, and not to the General Commissioners.

(7) In relation to any profits tax or excess profits levy chargeable by reference to the profits of a body corporate, that body corporate shall be deemed to be the person chargeable for the purposes of this section, notwithstanding .that the tax is chargeable on another body corporate under the provisions relating to subsidiary companies.

(8) This section shall, in the case of any person, apply to overseas income by reference to which he is chargeable to income tax for any year of assessment not earlier than the year 1952-53 (but not so as to affect tax chargeable by reference thereto for any earlier year) and, for the purposes of the profits tax and excess profits levy, also to profits arising in any chargeable accounting period in or before which any such income arises; and, where the time mentioned in subsection (3) of this section for delivering a notice under subsection (2) in relation to any overseas income has come to an end or comes to an end within three months of the commencement of this Act, the notice may be delivered at any time within those three months and, if the person entitled to give the notice has died, may be given by his executors or administrators.