§ The Paymaster General (Dawn Primarolo)Legislation is to be included in the Finance Bill 2004 to prevent tax avoidance schemes which seek to work round the legislation announced on 10 February 2004. The new legislation will only apply to losses from a trade involving the exploitation of film, apart from a trade involving the production of a film or the acquisition of the master version of a film. It will not therefore affect partnerships which operate within the specific relief for qualifying films. For trading losses which arise in any of the first four years that a partner carries on a trade, relief for set-off against other income will be denied where a partner does not spend a significant amount of time in the partnership trade and is guaranteed to receive income from the partnership. The changes will have effect from today.
A copy of today's Inland Revenue news release giving the relevant background to this measure is being deposited in the Libraries of both Houses and is also accessible on the Inland Revenue website: http://www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/.