Valid from 06/04/2005
(1)The Treasury may by regulations provide that income of an individual from investments under a plan—
(a)is exempt from income tax, or
(b)is exempt from income tax to such extent as is specified in the regulations.
(2)In this Chapter such regulations are referred to as “investment plan regulations”.
(3)Investment plan regulations may, in particular, specify—
(a)the description of individuals who may invest, and
(b)maximum investment limits.
(4)They may provide for investment by an individual under more than one plan in the same tax year.
(5)They must set out conditions subject to which plans are to operate.
(6)The following provisions of this Chapter contain more particular provisions about the scope of investment plan regulations.
(1)Investment plan regulations may specify the kind of investments which may be made under a plan or which may be made by particular descriptions of individuals under a plan.
(2)They may—
(a)provide for a plan in the form of an account, and
(b)authorise the ways in which the subscriptions to an account are to be invested.
(3)They may—
(a)provide that plans are to be such as are approved by the Board of Inland Revenue, and
(b)specify the circumstances in which approval may be granted and withdrawn.
(4)They may—
(a)provide for plans to be treated as being of different kinds, according to criteria set out in the regulations,
(b)provide for the Board to register a plan as being of a particular kind, and
(c)make different provision about different kinds of plan.
(1)Investment plan regulations may provide that investments are to be held by persons on behalf of investors.
(2)In this Chapter those persons, including the managers of any such account as is specified in section 695(2), are referred to as “plan managers”, and references to “plan managers” in any other enactment are to be read accordingly.
(3)Investment plan regulations may—
(a)provide that plan managers are to be such as are approved by the Board of Inland Revenue, and
(b)specify the circumstances in which approval may be granted and withdrawn.
(1)Investment plan regulations may provide that a foreign institution may only be a plan manager if one of the requirements set out in section 698(2), (3) and (4) about the discharge of such of the institution's duties as are specified in the regulations is met.
(2)In this section “foreign institution” means—
(a)an EEA firm of the kind mentioned in paragraph 5(a), (b) or (c) of Schedule 3 to FISMA 2000 which is an authorised person for the purposes of that Act as a result of qualifying for authorisation under paragraph 12 of that Schedule,
(b)a firm which is an authorised person for those purposes as a result of qualifying for authorisation under paragraph 2 of Schedule 4 to that Act, or
(c)an insurance company which is non-UK resident.
(3)Different duties may be specified under subsection (1) for different institutions or different descriptions of institution.
(4)In this section—
“insurance company” means an undertaking carrying on the business of effecting or carrying out contracts of insurance, and
“contract of insurance” has the meaning given by Article 3(1) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001 (S.I. 2001/544).
(1)The requirements about the discharge of an institution's duties which are referred to in section 697(1) (one of which may be imposed in the case of certain foreign managers) are requirements A, B and C.
(2)Requirement A is that—
(a)a person is currently appointed by the institution to be responsible for securing the discharge of the duties,
(b)that person either—
(i)is an individual who is a UK resident, or
(ii)is not an individual and has a business establishment in the United Kingdom, and
(c)the institution has notified the Board of Inland Revenue of that person's identity and appointment.
(3)Requirement B is that there are other current arrangements with the Board for a person other than the institution to secure the discharge of the duties.
(4)Requirement C is that there are other current arrangements with the Board designed to secure the discharge of the duties.
(5)Investment plan regulations may provide—
(a)that requirement A or B is only met if the person concerned is of a description specified in the regulations as respects that requirement,
(b)that appointments made for the purposes of requirement A or arrangements made for the purposes of requirement B are treated as terminated in circumstances specified in the regulations as respects that requirement.
(6)Investment plan regulations may provide that a person currently appointed as mentioned in subsection (2) or as to whom there is a current arrangement within subsection (3)—
(a)may act on the institution's behalf for any of the purposes of the provisions relating to the duties,
(b)is to secure the institution's compliance with, and discharge of, the duties, where appropriate by acting on its behalf,
(c)is personally liable for the institution's failure to comply with or discharge any of the duties, as if they were imposed on the person and the institution jointly and severally.
(1)Investment plan regulations may—
(a)provide that in circumstances specified in the regulations an investor ceases to be entitled to the exemption given by regulations made under section 694(1) and is treated as not having been entitled to it,
(b)adapt or modify the effect of any enactment relating to income tax for that purpose, and
(c)provide that in those circumstances the investor or the plan manager (depending on the terms of the regulations) is to account to the Board of Inland Revenue for income tax from which exemption has already been given on the basis that the investor was entitled to the exemption.
(2)They may provide that an investor or the plan manager (depending on the terms of the regulations) is to account to the Board—
(a)for income tax from which the exemption has been given in circumstances where the investor was not entitled to it, or
(b)for an amount determined in accordance with the regulations to be the amount to be taken as representing that tax.
(3)They may modify the effect of or adapt any enactment relating to income tax for the purposes of securing that investors or plan managers account for the tax and other amounts mentioned in subsections (1) and (2).
(4)They may also modify the provisions of or adapt Chapter 9 of Part 4 of this Act (gains from contracts for life insurance etc.) or Chapter 2 of Part 13 of ICTA (life policies, life annuities and capital redemption policies) for cases where an investor—
(a)ceases to be entitled to the exemption given by regulations made under section 694(1) and is treated as not having been entitled to it, or
(b)has been given the exemption on the basis of an entitlement to it when there was no such entitlement.
(5)They may provide for plan managers (as well as investors) to be liable to account for amounts becoming due from investors as a result of regulations made under subsection (4).
(6)They may provide that, instead of having to account as mentioned in subsection (2) or (5), an investor or a plan manager is liable to a penalty of an amount specified in the regulations if—
(a)an exemption has been given to which there was no entitlement, and
(b)the circumstances are such as are specified in the regulations.
(7)They may provide that liabilities are imposed in cases which—
(a)are not cases in which liabilities may be imposed under subsections (1) to (6) where relief has been given to which there was no entitlement, but
(b)are cases where—
(i)a contravention or failure to comply with investment plan regulations that is specified in the regulations, or
(ii)the existence of such other circumstances as are so specified,
would have the effect of excluding or limiting an entitlement to exemption, apart from the regulations under this subsection.
(8)Regulations under subsection (7)—
(a)may only provide for the imposition of liabilities equivalent to those which may be imposed under subsections (1) to (6), and
(b)must provide for those liabilities to replace the liabilities to tax which would otherwise arise.
(1)Investment plan regulations may impose a duty on any current or former investor or plan manager—
(a)to comply within the period specified by the regulations with any documents notice served by the Board of Inland Revenue, or
(b)to comply within the period specified by the regulations with any information request made by the Board.
(2)In this section “documents notice” means a notice requiring a person to make available for the Board's inspection documents relating to a plan or investments held or formerly held under it.
(3)The regulations must specify the kind of documents to which a documents notice may relate.
(4)A documents notice must specify the period for compliance with it.
(5)In this section “information request” means a request to give the Board information about a plan or investments held or formerly held under it.
(6)The regulations must specify—
(a)the kind of information to which an information request may relate, and
(b)the period from the making of the request for compliance with it.
(1)Investment plan regulations may make provision generally for the purpose of—
(a)the establishment and administration of plans, and
(b)the administration of income tax in relation to them.
(2)They may adapt or modify the effect of any enactment relating to income tax for the purpose of securing that investors are entitled to exemption from income tax in respect of investments.
(3)They may specify how exemption from tax is to be claimed by, and granted to, investors or plan managers on behalf of investors.