106Restriction on payment of tax credits.
(1) In section 231 of the Taxes Act 1988 (tax credits for certain recipients of qualifying distributions) in subsection (3) after the words “made and” there shall be inserted the words “subject to subsections (3A) to (3D) below” and after that subsection there shall be inserted—
“(3A)Subject to subsection (3B) below, where it appears to the inspector that, in any accounting period of a company at the end of which it is a close investment-holding company—
(a)arrangements relating to the distribution of the profits of the company exist or have existed the main purpose of which or one of the main purposes of which is to enable payments, or payments of a greater amount, to be made to any one or more individuals under subsection (3) above in respect of such an excess as is mentioned in that subsection, and
(b)by virtue of those arrangements, any eligible person—
(i)receives a qualifying distribution consisting of a payment made by the company on the redemption, repayment or purchase of its own shares, or
(ii)receives any other qualifying distribution in respect of shares in or securities of the company, where the amount or value of the distribution is greater than might in all the circumstances have been expected but for the arrangements,
the entitlement of the eligible person to have paid to him under subsection (3) above all or part of a tax credit in respect of any distribution made by the company in the period shall be restricted to such extent as appears to the inspector to be just and reasonable.
(3B)Subsection (3A) above does not apply in relation to a tax credit in respect of a dividend paid by a company in any accounting period in respect of its ordinary share capital if—
(a)throughout the period, the company’s ordinary share capital consisted of only one class of shares, and
(b)no person waived his entitlement to any dividend which would have become payable by the company in the period or failed to receive any dividend which had become due and payable to him by the company in the period.
(3C)In subsection (3A) above—
“arrangements” means arrangements of any kind whether in writing or not,
“close investment-holding company” has the meaning given by section 13A, and
“eligible person”, in relation to a qualifying distribution, means an individual resident in the United Kingdom who would (apart from subsection (3A) above) be entitled to have paid to him under subsection (3) above all or part of a tax credit in respect of the distribution.
(3D)In determining under subsection (3) above whether a person is entitled to have any excess of tax credit paid to him in a case where subsection (3A) above applies, tax credits shall be set against income tax in the order that results in the greatest payment in respect of the excess.”
(2)This section shall have effect in relation to distributions made by companies in accounting periods beginning after 31st March 1989.