The Stamp Duty Reserve Tax (Amendment) Regulations 1993

Amendments to Part II of the Schedule

8.—(1) Part II of the Schedule (which restates the provisions of the Management Act specified in Part I of the Schedule as modified where appropriate) shall be amended as follows.

(2) In Part V of the Management Act before section 50 (as modified) there shall be inserted—

“Regulations about jurisdiction.

46A.— (1) The Lord Chancellor may, with the consent of the Lord Advocate, make regulations—

(c) as to the number of Special Commissioners required or permitted to hear, or perform other functions in relation to, an appeal against a determination.

(2) The Regulations may—

(a) make different provision for different cases or different circumstances, and

(b) contain such supplementary, incidental, consequential and transitional provision as the Lord Chancellor thinks appropriate.

(3) Provision made by virtue of subsection (1) or (2) above may include provision amending this or any other Act or any instrument made under an Act.

(4) Regulations under this section shall be made by statutory instrument subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.”.

(3) After section 53 (as modified) in Part V of the Management Act there shall be inserted—

“Regulations about practice and procedure.

56B.— (1) The Lord Chancellor may, with the consent of the Lord Advocate, make regulations about the practice and procedure to be followed in connection with appeals.

(2) The regulations may in particular include provision—

(a) enabling the Special Commissioners to join as a party to an appeal a person who would not otherwise be a party;

(b) for requiring any party to an appeal to provide information and make documents available for inspection by the Special Commissioners or by officers of the Board;

(c) for requiring persons to attend the hearing of an appeal to give evidence and produce documents;

(d) as to evidence generally in relation to appeals;

(e) enabling the Special Commissioners to review their decisions;

(f) for the imposition of penalties not exceeding an amount specified in the regulations;

(g) for the determination and recovery of penalties (imposed by virtue of paragraph (f) above or any other enactment) and for appeals against penalties.

(3) The regulations may also include provision—

(a) authorising or requiring the Special Commissioners, in circumstances prescribed in the regulations, to state a case for the opinion of a court;

(b) for an appeal to lie to a court on a question of law arising from a decision of the Special Commissioners;

(c) as to the practice and procedure to be followed in connection with cases so stated or such appeals.

(4) The regulations may—

(a) make different provision for different cases or different circumstances, and

(b) contain such supplementary, incidental, consequential and transitional provision as the Lord Chancellor thinks appropriate.

(5) Provision made by virtue of any of subsections (1) to (4) above may include provision amending this or any other Act or any instrument made under an Act.

(6) Regulations under this section shall be made by statutory instrument subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

Power of Special Commissioners to order costs.

56C.— (1) Regulations made under section 56B above may include provision for—

(a) the award by the Special Commissioners of the costs of, or incidental to, appeal hearings before them,

(b) the recovery of costs so awarded, and

(c) appeals against such awards.

(2) Any provision made by virtue of subsection 1(a) above shall provide that the Special Commissioners shall not award costs against a party to an appeal unless they consider that he has acted wholly unreasonably in connection with the hearing in question.

Power of Special Commissioners to publish reports of decisions.

56D.— (1) Regulations made under section 56B above may include provision for the Special Commissioners to publish reports of such of their decisions as they consider appropriate.

(2) Any provision made by virtue of subsection (1) above shall provide that any report published, other than a report of an appeal that was heard in public, shall be in a form that so far as possible prevents the identification of any person whose affairs are dealt with in the report.

(3) No obligation of secrecy to which the Special Commissioners are subject (by virtue of this Act or otherwise) shall prevent their publishing reports of their decisions in accordance with any provision made by virtue of subsection (1) above.”.

(4) In Part VI of the Management Act before section 61 there shall be inserted—

“Issue of demand notes and receipts.

60.— (1) Every collector shall, when the tax becomes due and payable, make demand of the respective sums given to him in charge to collect, from the persons charged therewith, or at the places of their last abode, or on the premises in respect of which the tax is charged, as the case may require.

(2) On payment of the tax, the collector shall if requested give a receipt.”.

(5) For section 63 (as modified) there shall be substituted—

“63.    Recovery of tax in Scotland.

(1) Subject to subsection (3) below, in Scotland, where any tax is due and has not been paid, the sheriff, on an application by the collector accompanied by a certificate by the collector—

(a) stating that none of the persons specified in the application has paid the tax due by him;

(b) stating that the collector has demanded payment under section 60 of this Act from each such person of the amount due by him;

(c) stating that 14 days have elapsed since the date of such demand without payment of the said amount; and

(d) specifying the amount due and unpaid by each such person,

shall grant a summary warrant in a form prescribed by Act of Sederunt authorising the recovery, by any of the diligences mentioned in subsection (2) below, of the amount remaining due and unpaid.

(2) The diligences referred to in subsection (1) above are—

(a) a poinding and sale in accordance with Schedule 5 to the Debtors (Scotland) Act 1987;

(b) an earnings arrestment;

(c) an arrestment and action of furthcoming or sale.”.

(6) After section 63 (as substituted by paragraph (5) above) there shall be inserted—

“Sheriff officer’s fees and outlays.

63A.— (1) Subject to subsection (2) below and without prejudice to paragraphs 25 to 34 of Schedule 5 to the Debtors (Scotland) Act 1987 (expenses of poinding and sale), the sheriff officer’s fees, together with the outlays necessarily incurred by him, in connection with the execution of a summary warrant shall be chargeable against the debtor.

(2) No fee shall be chargeable by the sheriff officer against the debtor for collecting, and accounting to the collector for, sums paid to him by the debtor in respect of the amount owing.”.

(7) For subsection (1) of section 65 (as modified) there shall be substituted—

“Magistrates' Courts.

65.— (1) Where the amount of any tax for the time being due and payable is less than £1,000, the tax shall, without prejudice to any other remedy, be recoverable summarily as a civil debt by proceedings commenced in the name of a collector.”.

(8) For subsection (1) of section 66 (as modified) there shall be substituted—

“County courts.

66.— (1) Tax due and payable under the Act may, in England and Wales, and in Northern Ireland where the amount does not exceed the limit specified in Article 10(1) of the County Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1980, without prejudice to any other remedy, be sued for and recovered from the person charged therewith as a debt due to the Crown by proceedings in a county court commenced in the name of a collector.”.

(9) Subsection (6) of section 86 shall be omitted.

(10) For subsections (2) and (5) of section 93 (as modified) there shall be substituted—

“(2) If a failure by a person to give a notice such as is referred to in subsection (1) above continues after the end of a period of one year beginning on the last day on which the notice should have been given then, without prejudice to any penalty under subsection (1) above, he shall be liable to a penalty of an amount not exceeding the amount of the tax which he should have paid by the date by which he should have given the notice.

(5) No penalty shall be imposed under subsection (1) above in respect of a failure at any time after the failure has been remedied.”.

(11) For section 98 (as modified) there shall be substituted—