§ Mr. George Cunninghamasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether companies may submit claims to their inspectors of taxes for the proposed tax relief for stock increases, before the Finance Bill receives Royal Assent.
§ Mr. Joel BarnettYes. The general terms of the relief have been set out in Press notices issued by the Inland Revenue on 12th November and 3rd December. Any company which considers it is entitled to relief should send its claim, with a computation of the relief due, to the inspector of taxes as soon as possible. The form of the claim is given in Appendix II of the Press notice of 12th November.
My intention is that the benefit of the proposals should be available quickly, and while the amount of relief cannot, of course, be finally settled until the proposals have been considered by the House and the Bill has received Royal Assent, the Inland Revenue is arranging for relief to be given wherever possible on a provisional basis. Thus, where the liability has been agreed, but the full amount of tax has not been paid, the amount to be paid will be reduced to take account of the relief which the inspector provisionally agrees is due. Where the assessment is under appeal, the tax not in dispute, which is to be paid on account, will be revised to allow for the relief due.
Special provisions will be necessary in order to determine the amount of relief in the case of:
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- i. a company whose accounting periods for corporation tax purposes which end in the financial year 1973, taken together, either (a) do not coincide with a period-or consecutive periods-for which it has drawn up its accounts or (b) are longer than 12 months;
- ii. transfers of stock in certain circumstances between members of a group;
- iii. a company beginning to trade in the relevant period.
These provisions will be included in the Finance Bill, which will be published on Tuesday.