Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988

768 Change in ownership of company: disallowance of trading losses

(1) If—

(a) within any period of three years there is both a change in the ownership of a company and (either earlier or later in that period, or at the same time) a major change in the nature or conduct of a trade carried on by the company, or

(b) at any time after the scale of the activities in a trade carried on by a company has become small or negligible, and before any considerable revival of the trade, there is a change in the ownership of the company,

no relief shall be given under section 393 by setting a loss incurred by the company in an accounting period beginning before the change of ownership against any income or other profits of an accounting period ending after the change of ownership.

(2) In applying this section to the accounting period in which the change of ownership occurs, the part ending with the change of ownership, and the part after, shall be treated as two separate accounting periods, and the profits or losses of the accounting period shall be apportioned to the two parts.

(3) The apportionment under subsection (2) above shall be on a time basis according to the respective lengths of those parts except that if it appears that that method would work unreasonably or unjustly such other method shall be used as appears just and reasonable.

(4) In subsection (1) above “major change in the nature or conduct of a trade” includes—

(a) a major change in the type of property dealt in, or services or facilities provided, in the trade; or

(b) a major change in customers, outlets or markets of the trade;

and this section applies even if the change is the result of a gradual process which began outside the period of three years mentioned in subsection (1)(a) above.

(5) In relation to any relief available under section 343 to a successor company, subsection (1) above shall apply as if any loss sustained by a predecessor company had been sustained by a successor company and as if the references to a trade included references to the trade as carried on by a predecessor company.

(6) Where relief in respect of a company’s losses has been restricted under this section then, notwithstanding section 87(3) of the 1968 Act, in applying the provisions of that Act about balancing charges to the company by reference to any event after the change of ownership of the company, any allowance or deduction falling to be made in taxing the company’s trade for any chargeable period before the change of ownership shall be disregarded unless the profits or gains of that chargeable period or of any subsequent chargeable period before the change of ownership were sufficient to give effect to the allowance or deduction.

(7) In applying subsection (6) above it shall be assumed that any profits or gains are applied in giving effect to any such allowance or deduction in preference to being set off against any loss which is not attributable to such an allowance or deduction.

(8) Where the operation of this section depends on circumstances or events at a time after the change of ownership (but not more than three years after), an assessment to give effect to the provisions of this section shall not be out of time if made within six years from that time, or the latest of those times.

(9) Any person in whose name any shares, stock or securities of a company are registered shall, if required by notice by an inspector given for the purposes of this section, state whether or not he is the beneficial owner of those shares or securities and, if not the beneficial owner of those shares or securities of any of them, shall furnish the name and address of the person or persons on whose behalf those shares, stock or securities are registered in his name.