§ Mr. Norman LamontI beg to move amendment No. 50, in page 162, line 12, after 'purpose', insert
'which, subject to subsection (IA) below, are'.
§ The Chairman of Ways and Means (Mr. Harold Walker)With this it will be convenient to take Government amendment No. 51.
§ Mr. LamontThe new relief for oil-related research expenditure set out in schedule 19, specifically excludes expenditure on exploration and appraisal. It achieves this by excluding any expenditure for purposes specified in section 5A(2) of the Oil Taxation Act 1975, namely exploration and appraisal activities in the territorial sea and the continental shelf. It was also intended that the new relief should exclude onshore exploration and appraisal expenditure but, following the Finance Act 1975, onshore expenditure is no longer included in the section 5A(2) purposes. The two amendments therefore ensure that the objective of excluding all exploration and appraisal expenditure from the scope of the new relief is achieved, by deeming, for the purposes only of this provision, the territorial sea to include also the United Kingdom.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§
Amendment made: No. 51, in page 162, line 21, at end insert—
`(1A) For the purposes only of subsection (1)(d) above, any reference in section 5A(2) of this Act to the territorial sea of the United Kingdom shall he taken to include a reference to the United Kingdom itself.'
§ Schedule 19, as amended agreed to.
§ Clause 157 ordered to stand part of the Bill.
§ Schedule 20 agreed to.
§ Clauses 158 and 159 ordered to stand part of the Bill.