Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003

Introduction

549 Application of this Chapter

(1) This Chapter applies for the purposes of any listed provision in circumstances where—

(a) an individual (“B”) is interested as a beneficiary of an employee benefit trust in shares or obligations of a particular company (“the company”), and

(b) the question arises under that provision whether the trustees of the trust are, as a result of B’s being so interested, to be regarded as associates of B’s for the relevant purposes.

The relevant purposes are those of the operation, in relation to the company, of the “no material interest” requirement contained in the Schedule to this Act in which the listed provision appears.

(2) In this Chapter “listed provision” means any of the following provisions (under which trustees of an employee benefit trust are not to be regarded as associates if specified limits relating to share ownership are not exceeded)—

(a) paragraph 23(2) of Schedule 2 (approved SIPs),

(b) paragraph 15(2) of Schedule 3 (approved SAYE option schemes),

(c) paragraph 13(2) of Schedule 4 (approved CSOP schemes), or

(d) paragraph 32(2) of Schedule 5 (enterprise management incentives).

(3) The general effect of this Chapter is that if the provisions of—

(a) sections 552 and 553 (attribution of interest in company to beneficiary or associate), or

(b) section 554 (attribution of further interest),

apply in relation to B or an associate of B's, B or the associate is to be treated for the purposes of the listed provision as having been the beneficial owner of a particular percentage of the company’s ordinary share capital on a particular date.

(4) In this Chapter, in relation to an individual, “associate”—

(a) has the same meaning as in section 417(3) and (4) of ICTA (expressions relating to close companies), but

(b) does not include the trustees of an employee benefit trust as a result only of the individual’s having (as mentioned in subsection (1)(a)) an interest in shares or obligations of the company which are subject to the trust.

(5) In this Chapter “employee” means the holder of a taxable employment under Part 2 (as defined in section 66(3)), and accordingly includes an office-holder whose office is within the scope of that definition as a result of section 5(1).