Finance Act 1940

7 (1) Neither section nineteen of the Finance (No.2) Act, 1939 (which contains provisions as to the relation of excess profits tax and the national defence contribution) nor the Sixth Schedule to this Act shall apply in the case of any body corporate as respects any period during which it is a member of a group of companies, and the national defence contribution shall be charged in respect of any profits of the trade or business of the body corporate arising during that period as if there were no excess profits tax. U.K.

(2) The Commissioners shall from time to time make—

(a) such reductions, if any, of excess profits tax chargeable in respect of the trades or businesses of the members of a group of companies : and

(b) such repayments, if any, of the excess profits tax paid in respect of those trades or businesses,

as appear to the Commissioners to be such as will secure that over the whole period during which both excess profits tax and the national defence contribution are in operation the total sum payable by way of excess profits tax in respect of the trades or businesses of all the members of the group does not exceed the excess, if any, of—

(i) the total amount of excess profits tax which would be chargeable in respect of those trades or businesses over that period if the national defence contribution were disregarded except in computing capital,

over—

(ii) the total amount of the national defence contribution chargeable in respect of those trades or businesses over the said period.

In this sub-paragraph, the references to amounts payable in respect of the trades or businesses of members of a group of companies shall be construed as references to the sums payable in respect of the trades or businesses of all bodies corporate who were members of the group at any time during the period or part of the period in question, being sums payable in respect of profits arising while they were members of that group, and for the purposes of this sub-paragraph a group of companies shall be deemed to be the same group notwithstanding any changes in the members thereof so long as, and only so long as, the same body corporate remains the principal company of the group.