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15 1983

FINANCE ACT, 1983

Chapter VII

Advance Corporation Tax

Liability for advance corporation tax.

38. —Save as is otherwise provided for in this Chapter, where a company resident in the State makes a distribution on or after the 9th day of February, 1983, it shall be liable to make a payment of corporation tax (to be known as “advance corporation tax”) in accordance with this Chapter and, subject to section 41 , the amount of that payment shall, whether or not the recipient of the distribution is a person entitled to a tax credit in respect thereof, be equal to the amount of the tax credit to which a recipient who is such a person is entitled in respect thereof.

Set-off of advance corporation tax.

39. —(1) Advance corporation tax paid by a company (and not repaid) in respect of any distribution made by it in an accounting period shall be set, so far as possible, against its liability to corporation tax on any income charged to corporation tax for that accounting period and shall accordingly discharge a corresponding amount of that liability.

(2) Where in the case of any accounting period of a company there is an amount of surplus advance corporation tax (that is to say, advance corporation tax which cannot be set against the company's liability to corporation tax for that period because of a want or deficiency of income charged to corporation tax for the period or because of any relief from or reduction in the amount of corporation tax charged on such income for the period), the company may, within two years after the end of that period, claim to have the whole or any part of that amount treated for the purposes of this section (but not of any further application of this subsection) as if it were advance corporation tax paid in respect of distributions made by the company in any of its accounting periods ending in the period of twelve months immediately preceding that accounting period (but so that the amount which is the subject of the claim is set, so far as possible, against the company's liability for a more recent accounting period before a more remote one) and corporation tax shall, so far as may be required, be repaid accordingly.

(3) Where in the case of any accounting period of a company there is an amount of surplus advance corporation tax which has not been dealt with under subsection (2), that amount shall be treated for the purposes of this section (including any further application of this subsection) as if it were advance corporation tax paid in respect of distributions made by the company in the next accounting period.

(4) For the purposes of this section the income of a company charged to corporation tax for any accounting period shall be its income for that period as defined in section 28 of the Corporation Tax Act, 1976 , for the purposes of that section.

(5) For the purposes of this section a notice under section 143 of the Corporation Tax Act, 1976 , may require the inclusion in the return to be delivered by a company under the said section 143 of particulars of any surplus advance corporation tax carried forward in relation to that company under subsection (3).

(6) This section shall have effect subject to the subsequent provisions of this Chapter.

Rectification of excessive set-off of advance corporation tax.

40. —If an inspector discovers that any set-off of advance corporation tax under section 39 ought not to have been made, or is or has become excessive, the inspector may make any such assessments as may in his judgment be required for recovering any tax that ought to have been paid and generally for securing that the resulting liabilities to tax (including interest on unpaid tax) of the persons concerned are what they would have been if only such set-offs had been made as ought to have been made.

Calculation of advance corporation tax where company receives distributions.

41. —(1) Where in any accounting period a company receives a distribution, the company shall not be liable to pay advance corporation tax in respect of distributions made by it in that period unless the aggregate amount of the tax credits in respect of the distributions made by it in the period exceeds the aggregate amount of the tax credits in respect of distributions received by it in the period.

(2) If in any accounting period there is such an excess as is referred to in subsection (1), the amount of advance corporation tax payable by the company in respect of distributions made by it in that period shall be equal to the excess.

(3) If the aggregate amount of the tax credits in respect of distributions received by a company in an accounting period exceeds the sum of—

(a) the aggregate amount of the tax credits (if any) in respect of distributions made by it in that period, and

(b) the amount of any payment to the company, under any provision of the Corporation Tax Acts, of the tax credits in respect of distributions received by it in that period,

the excess shall be carried forward to the next accounting period and treated for the purposes of this section (including any further application of this subsection) as a tax credit in respect of a distribution received by the company in that period.

(4) If an inspector discovers that, owing to the payment to a company of the tax credit in respect of a distribution received by it or for any other reason, the amount carried forward under subsection (3) to an accounting period (and treated as a tax credit in respect of a distribution received by the company in that period) is or has become excessive, the inspector may make any such assessments, adjustments or set-offs as may in his judgment be required for securing that the amount of advance corporation tax (including interest on unpaid tax) payable by the company in respect of distributions made by it in that period is the same as it would have been if only such an amount had been so carried forward as ought to have been carried forward.

(5) In the foregoing provisions of this section references to a distribution or distributions do not include references to a distribution or distributions—

(a) made before the 9th day of February, 1983, or

(b) treated, under any provision of this Chapter, as not being a distribution or distributions for the purposes of this section.

Tax credit recovered from company.

42. —(1) Where under any provision of the Corporation Tax Acts a company obtains payment of a tax credit in respect of a distribution received by it on or after the 9th day of February, 1983, and that tax credit or any part thereof is subsequently recovered from the company by an assessment on it to income tax under Case IV of Schedule D, then the amount of the tax credit so recovered shall be treated for the purposes of section 41 as if it were a tax credit in respect of a distribution received by the company in the accounting period in which the amount is so recovered.

(2) Subsection (1) shall not apply in relation to a tax credit in respect of a distribution which, by virtue of section 49 , is treated as not being a distribution for the purposes of section 41 .

Restriction as to payment of tax credit.

43. —(1) Where—

(a) by virtue of section 41 the amount of advance corporation tax payable by a company in respect of distributions made by it in an accounting period is less than the amount of advance corporation tax which would have been payable by the company in respect of those distributions if that section had not been enacted, and

(b) either—

(i) no amount is treated under section 41 (3) as a tax credit in respect of a distribution received by the company in the accounting period, or

(ii) the aggregate amount of the tax credits in respect of distributions made by the company in the accounting period is greater than the amount which is so treated under section 41 (3),

then, an amount of the tax credits in respect of distributions received by the company in the accounting period shall not be available for payment to the company under any provision of the Corporation Tax Acts, and the amount which is not so available shall be the aggregate amount of the tax credits in respect of distributions received by the company in the accounting period or, if it is less, an amount determined by the formula

A—B

where—

A is the aggregate amount of the tax credits in respect of distributions made by the company in the accounting period, and

B is the amount (if any) so treated under section 41 (3).

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1) account shall not be taken of any distribution made before the 9th day of February, 1983, or of any distribution which is treated as not being a distribution for the purposes of section 38 or 41 under any provision of this Chapter.

Group-dividends.

44. —(1) Where a company receives dividends from another company (both being companies resident in the State) and the company paying the dividends is—

(a) a 51 per cent. subsidiary of the other or of a company so resident of which the other is a 51 per cent. subsidiary, or

(b) a trading or holding company owned by a consortium the members of which include the company receiving the dividends,

then, subject to the following provisions of this section, the company receiving the dividends and the company paying them may jointly elect that this subsection shall apply to the dividends received from the latter by the former, and so long as the election is in force—

(i) any such dividends shall be treated as not being distributions for the purposes of either section 38 or 41 , and

(ii) the tax credits in respect of those dividends shall not be available for payment, under any provision of the Corporation Tax Acts, to the company by which the dividends are received.

(2) Subsection (1) shall not apply to any dividend received by a company on any investments if a profit on the sale of those investments would be treated as a trading receipt of that company.

(3) Where a company purports by virtue of an election under subsection (1) to pay any dividend without paying advance corporation tax and advance corporation tax ought to have been paid, the inspector may make such assessments, adjustments or set-offs as may in his judgment be required for securing that the resulting liabilities to tax (including interest on unpaid tax) of the company paying and the company receiving the dividend are, so far as possible, the same as they would have been if the advance corporation tax had been duly paid.

(4) Where tax assessed under subsection (3) on the company which paid the dividend is not paid by that company before the expiry of three months from the date on which that tax is payable, that tax shall, without prejudice to the right to recover it from that company, be recoverable from the company which received the dividend.

(5) Subsections (5) and (6) of section 105 of the Corporation Tax Act, 1976 , shall apply for the purposes of this section as they apply for the purposes of that section.

(6) References in this section to a dividend or dividends received by a company apply to any received by another person on behalf of or in trust for the company but not to any received by the company on behalf of or in trust for another person.

(7) The provisions of section 106 of the Corporation Tax Act, 1976 , shall, with any necessary modifications, have effect for the purposes of this section as they have effect for the purposes of section 105 of that Act.

Surrender of advance corporation tax.

45. —(1) Where a company (hereafter in this section referred to as “the surrendering company”) has paid an amount of advance corporation tax in respect of a dividend or dividends paid by it in an accounting period and the advance corporation tax has not been repaid, and if throughout the accounting period the surrendering company would be treated as a member of a group of companies for the purposes of group relief under Part XI of the Corporation Tax Act, 1976 , it may, on making a claim to the inspector, surrender the benefit of the whole or any part of that amount to any company (hereafter in this section referred to as “the recipient company”) which for the purposes of the said group relief would be treated as a member of the same group of companies throughout that accounting period or (in such proportions as the surrendering company may determine) to any two or more such companies.

(2) Subject to subsections (4) and (5), where the benefit of any amount of advance corporation tax (hereafter in this section referred to as “the surrendered amount”) is surrendered under this section to a recipient company, then—

(a) if the advance corporation tax mentioned in subsection (1) was paid in respect of one dividend only or of dividends all of which were paid on the same date, the recipient company shall be treated for the purposes of section 39 as having paid an amount of advance corporation tax equal to the surrendered amount in respect of a distribution made by it on the date on which the dividend or dividends were paid,

(b) if the advance corporation tax mentioned in subsection (1) was paid in respect of dividends paid on different dates, the recipient company shall be treated for the purposes of section 39 as having paid an amount of advance corporation tax equal to the appropriate part of the surrendered amount in respect of a distribution made by it on each of those dates.

(3) For the purposes of paragraph (b) of subsection (2) “the appropriate part of the surrendered amount”, in relation to any distribution treated as made on the same date as that on which a dividend was paid, means such part of that amount as bears to the whole of it the same proportion as the amount of the tax credit in respect of that dividend bears to the total amount of the tax credits in respect of the dividends mentioned in that paragraph.

(4) No amount of advance corporation tax which a recipient company is treated as having paid by virtue of subsection (2) shall, under section 39 (2), be set against the recipient company's liability to corporation tax; but in determining for the purposes of subsections (2) and (3) of the said section 39 what (if any) amount of surplus advance corporation tax there is in any accounting period of a recipient company, an amount so treated as having been paid shall be set against the recipient company's liability to corporation tax before any advance corporation tax paid in respect of any distribution made by the recipient company.

(5) No amount of advance corporation tax which a recipient company is treated as having paid by virtue of subsection (2) shall be set against the recipient company's liability to corporation tax for any accounting period in which, or in any part of which, the recipient company and the surrendering company would not be treated for the purposes of group relief under Part XI of the Corporation Tax Act, 1976 , as members of the same group of companies.

(6) Any claim under this section shall be made within two years after the end of the accounting period to which it relates and shall require the consent of the recipient company or companies concerned (which shall be notified to the inspector in such form as the Revenue Commissioners may require).

(7) No amount of advance corporation tax which has been set off under section 39 (1) or dealt with under section 39 (2) shall be available for the purposes of a claim under this section; and no amount of advance corporation tax, the benefit of which has been surrendered under this section, shall be treated for the purposes of the said section 39 as advance corporation tax paid by the surrendering company.

(8) A payment made by a recipient company to a surrendering company in pursuance of an agreement between them as respects the surrender of the benefit of an amount of advance corporation tax, being a payment not exceeding that amount—

(a) shall not be taken into account in computing profits or losses of either company for corporation tax purposes, and

(b) shall not, for any of the purposes of the Corporation Tax Acts, be regarded as a distribution or a charge on income.

Change in ownership of company: calculation and treatment of advance corporation tax.

46. —(1) This section applies if—

(a) within any period of three years there is both a change in the ownership of a company and (either earlier or later in that period, or at the same time) a major change in the nature or conduct of a trade or business carried on by the company, or

(b) at any time after the scale of the activities in a trade or business carried on by a company has become small or negligible, and before any considerable revival of the trade or business, there is a change in ownership of the company.

(2) Sections 39 , 41 and 50 shall apply to an accounting period in which the change of ownership occurs as if the part ending with the change of ownership, and the part after, were two separate accounting periods; and for that purpose the income of the company charged to corporation tax for the accounting period (as defined in section 39 (4)) shall be apportioned between those parts.

(3) No advance corporation tax paid by the company in respect of distributions made in an accounting period beginning before the change of ownership shall be treated under section 39 (3) as paid by it in respect of distributions made in an accounting period ending after the change of ownership; and this subsection shall apply to an accounting period in which the change of ownership occurs as if the part ending with the change of ownership, and the part after, were two separate accounting periods.

(4) In subsection (1) (a)major change in the nature or conduct of a trade or business” includes—

(a) a major change in the type of property dealt in, or services or facilities provided, in the trade or business, or

(b) a major change in customers, outlets or markets of the trade or business, or

(c) a change whereby the company ceases to be a trading company and becomes an investment company or vice versa, or

(d) where the company is an investment company, a major change in the nature of the investments held by the company,

and this section applies even if the change is the result of a gradual process which began outside the period of three years mentioned in subsection (1) (a).

(5) In this section—

trading company” means a company whose business consists wholly or mainly of the carrying on of a trade or trades;

investment company” means a company (other than a holding company) whose business consists wholly or mainly in the making of investments and the principal part of whose income is derived therefrom;

holding company” means a company whose business consists wholly or mainly in the holding of shares or securities of companies which are its 90 per cent. subsidiaries and which are trading companies.

(6) Subsection (3) applies to advance corporation tax which a company is treated as having paid by virtue of section 45 (2) as it applies to advance corporation tax which has been paid by the company.

(7) Subsections (6) and (7) of section 27 of the Corporation Tax Act, 1976 , shall apply for the purposes of this section as they apply for the purposes of that section and shall so apply as if—

(a) the reference in paragraph 3 of Part I of the Fifth Schedule to the Finance Act, 1973 , to losses or capital allowances were a reference to advance corporation tax, and

(b) the reference in paragraph 7 of the said Part I to the 16th day of May, 1973, were a reference to the 9th day of February, 1983.

(8) Section 149 of the Corporation Tax Act, 1976 , shall apply in relation to a notice given under paragraph 9 of Part I of the Fifth Schedule to the Finance Act, 1973 (as applied for the purposes of this section by subsection (7)) as it applies in relation to such a notice given for the purposes of section 27 of the Corporation Tax Act, 1976 .

(9) This section shall not apply if the change of ownership took place before the 9th day of February, 1983, and subsection (1) (a) shall not apply if the major change in the nature or conduct of the trade or business was completed before that date; but in other respects this section shall have effect by reference to circumstances and events before that date, as well as by reference to later circumstances and events.

Distributions to certain non-resident companies.

47. —(1) (a) This section applies to any distribution which—

(i) is a distribution by virtue only of section 84 (2) (d) (iv) of the Corporation Tax Act, 1976 , or

(ii) is a dividend paid by a company (hereafter in this subsection referred to as the “first-mentioned company”) to another company—

(I) of which the first-mentioned company is a 75 per cent. subsidiary, and,

(II) which is a resident of the United States of America or of a territory with the government of which arrangements having the force of law by virtue of section 361 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , have been made.

(b) For the purposes of paragraph (a)

resident of the United States of America” has the meaning assigned to it by the Convention set out in Schedule 8 to the Income Tax Act, 1967 ;

a company shall be regarded as being a resident of a territory other than the United States of America if it is so regarded under the provisions of arrangements made with the government of that territory and having the force of law by virtue of section 361 of the said Act.

(2) Where a company proves that this section applies to a distribution made by it and claims to have the distribution treated as not being a distribution for the purposes of section 38 , then—

(a) the distribution shall be so treated, and

(b) notwithstanding any provision of the Tax Acts, the company to which the distribution is made shall not be entitled to a tax credit in respect of the distribution.

(3) Any claim under this section shall be made in the return made under section 50 for the accounting period in which the distribution is made and shall require the consent, notified to the inspector in such form as the Revenue Commissioners may require, of the company to which the distribution is made.

(4) Subsection (1) of section 361 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , is hereby amended by the substitution for “, the arrangements shall, notwithstanding anything in any enactment,” of “and section 47 of the Finance Act, 1983, the arrangements shall, notwithstanding anything in any enactment, other than the said section 47 ,”, and the said subsection (1), as so amended, is set out in the Table to this subsection.

TABLE

361. (1) If the Government by order declare that arrangements specified in the order have been made with the government of any territory outside the State in relation to affording relief from double taxation in respect of income tax or corporation tax and any taxes of a similar character, imposed by the laws of the State or by the laws of that territory, and that it is expedient that those arrangements should have the force of law, then, subject to the provisions of this Part and section 47 of the Finance Act, 1983, the arrangements shall, notwithstanding anything in any enactment, other than the said section 47 , have the force of law.

Interest in respect of certain securities.

48. —(1) Subject to subsection (2), this section applies to any interest which is a distribution and which is paid by a company in respect of a security of the company falling within subparagraph (ii), (iii) (I) or (v) of section 84 (2) (d) of the Corporation Tax Act, 1976 , where—

(a) the security in respect of which the interest is paid was issued by the company to another company the ordinary trading activities of which include the lending of money, and

(b) either—

(i) the obligation to pay the interest was entered into before the 9th day of February, 1983, or

(ii) that obligation was entered into before the 9th day of June, 1983, pursuant to negotiations which were in progress on the 9th day of February, 1983:

Provided that an obligation shall be treated for the purposes of paragraph (b) as having been entered into before a particular date if, but only if, before that date, there was in existence a binding contract in writing under which that obligation arose and, where that contract was subject to the execution of a loan agreement, that the loan agreement was duly executed before the 9th day of June, 1983.

(2) (a) Where the period of repayment (hereafter in this subsection referred to as “the repayment period”) of either principal or interest provided for under such an obligation as is referred to in subsection (1) (b) is extended on or after the 9th day of February, 1983 (whether or not the right to such an extension arose out of the terms of the contract creating that obligation), then, subject to paragraph (b), this section shall not apply to any interest which is paid in respect of the period by which the repayment period is extended.

(b) Where the repayment period is extended before the 9th day of June, 1983, pursuant to negotiations which were in progress on the 9th day of February, 1983, paragraph (a) shall not apply to any interest which is paid in respect of the shorter of the following periods, that is to say—

(i) the period by which the repayment period is extended, and

(ii) the first five years of the period mentioned in subparagraph (i).

(3) Interest to which this section applies shall not be treated as a distribution for the purposes of either section 38 or 41 .

(4) The tax credit in respect of any interest to which this section applies shall not be available, under any provision of the Corporation Tax Acts, for payment to the person by whom the interest is received.

Dividends paid before 1st July, 1983.

49. —(1) This section applies to a dividend which is paid by a company on or after the 9th day of February, 1983, and before the 1st day of July, 1983, and which—

(a) was declared by the company in general meeting before the first-mentioned date, or

(b) was declared in general meeting on or after the first-mentioned date, but in accordance with a recommendation of the directors, and the directors' decision to make that recommendation was, with the authority of the directors, publicly announced before that date, or

(c) was paid in accordance with a decision of the directors, and that decision was, with their authority, publicly announced before the first-mentioned date.

(2) Where a company proves that this section applies to a dividend paid by it, and claims to have the dividend treated as not being a distribution for the purposes of section 38 , then—

(a) the dividend shall be so treated, and

(b) the dividend shall also be treated as not being a distribution for the purposes of section 41 .

(3) A claim under this section shall be made to the inspector and shall be so made before the 9th day of August, 1983.

Returns and collection of advance corporation tax.

50. —(1) This section shall have effect for the purpose of regulating the time and manner in which advance corporation tax is to be accounted for and paid.

(2) A company shall, for each of its accounting periods make, in accordance with this section, a return to the Collector-General of the distributions made and distributions received by it in that period and of the advance corporation tax (if any) payable by it in respect of the distributions made by it.

(3) A return for any period for which a return is required to be made under this section shall be made within six months from the end of that period.

(4) A return under this section need not be made by a company for an accounting period in which it has not made a distribution.

(5) (a) The return made by a company for an accounting period shall show—

(i) the amount of the distributions made by the company in the period and the amount of the tax credits in respect of those distributions,

(ii) the amount (if any) of the distributions received by the company in the period and the amount of the tax credits in respect of those distributions,

(iii) the amount of any tax credit which is carried forward to the accounting period and treated under section 41 (3) as a tax credit in respect of a distribution received by the company in that period, and

(iv) the amount (if any) of advance corporation tax which is payable by the company in respect of the distributions made by it in the period.

(b) The return shall specify whether any amount of tax credits is included pursuant to paragraph (a) (i) in respect of distributions which are treated as not being distributions for the purposes of section 38 under any provision of this Chapter and, if so, the amount so included.

(c) The return shall specify whether any amount of tax credits is included pursuant to paragraph (a) (ii) in respect of distributions which are treated as not being distributions for the purposes of section 41 under any provision of this Chapter and, if so, the amount so included.

(d) Where any amount is included in the return pursuant to subparagraph (ii) or (iii) of paragraph (a), the inclusion shall be treated as a claim by the company to have it taken into account in determining the amount of advance corporation tax which is payable, and any such claim shall be supported by such evidence as the inspector may reasonably require.

(6) Advance corporation tax in respect of any distribution required to be included in a return under this section shall be due at the time by which the return is to be made and shall be paid to the Collector-General, and advance corporation tax so due shall be payable by the company without the making of any assessment; but advance corporation tax which has become due as aforesaid may be assessed on the company (whether or not it has been paid when the assessment is made) if that tax, or any part of it, is not paid on or before the due date.

(7) If it appears to the inspector that there is a distribution which ought to have been and has not been included in a return, or if the inspector is dissatisfied with any return, he may make an assessment on the company to the best of his judgment; and any advance corporation tax due under an assessment made by virtue of this subsection shall be treated for the purposes of interest on unpaid tax as having been payable at the time when it would have been payable if a correct return had been made.

(8) Where a company makes a distribution on a date which does not fall within an accounting period of the company, an accounting period of the company shall be deemed to end on that date and the company shall make a return of that distribution within six months from that date; and the advance corporation tax for which the company is accountable in respect of that distribution shall be due at the time by which the return is to be made.

(9) Where any item has been incorrectly included in a return under this section as a distribution made or a distribution received by a company, the inspector may make any such assessments, adjustments or set-offs as may in his judgment be required for securing that the resulting liabilities to tax (including interest on unpaid tax) whether of the company or of any other person are, so far as possible, the same as they would have been if the item had not been so included.

(10) (a) Advance corporation tax assessed on a company under this section shall be due within one month after the issue of the notice of assessment (unless due earlier under subsection (6) or (8)) subject to any appeal against the assessment, but no such appeal shall affect the date when tax is due under subsection (6) or (8).

(b) On the determination of an appeal against an assessment under this section any tax overpaid shall be repaid.

(11) (a) All the provisions of the Corporation Tax Acts relating to—

(i) assessments to corporation tax,

(ii) appeals against such assessments (including the rehearing of appeals and the statement of a case for the opinion of the High Court), and

(iii) the collection and recovery of corporation tax,

shall, so far as they are applicable, apply to the assessment, collection and recovery of advance corporation tax under this section.

(b) Any tax payable in accordance with this section without the making of an assessment shall carry interest at the rate of 1.25 per cent. for each month or part of a month from the date when the tax becomes due and payable until payment.

(c) The provisions of subsections (3), (4) and (5) of section 550 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , shall apply in relation to interest payable under paragraph (b) as they apply in relation to interest payable under the said section 550.

(d) In its application to any tax charged by any assessment to advance corporation tax in accordance with this section, section 550 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , shall have effect with the omission of the proviso to subsection (1) and subsections (2) and (2A).

(e) Notwithstanding anything in the Corporation Tax Acts, the provisions of section 419 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , and section 30 of the Finance Act, 1976 , shall not apply in relation to any tax which is charged by any assessment to advance corporation tax in accordance with this section.

(12) The provisions of subsections (3), (8), (9), (10), (11) and (12) (b) of section 143 of the Corporation Tax Act, 1976 , shall, with any necessary modifications, apply in relation to a return under the provisions of this section as they apply in relation to a return under the provisions of the said section 143.

(13) In the foregoing provisions of this section references to a distribution or distributions do not include references to a distribution or distributions made by a company which is not resident in the State.

Cesser of certain provisions.

51. —(1) The provisions of the Corporation Tax Act, 1976 , specified in subsection (2) shall not have effect in relation to distributions (other than dividends falling within section 49 (2)) made on or after the 9th day of February, 1983.

(2) The provisions of the Corporation Tax Act, 1976 , referred to in subsection (1) are section 18 (4), subsection (8) (inserted by the Finance Act, 1982 ) of section 25, paragraph (b) of the proviso to section 26(3) and sections 90,91,167 and 168.

Transitional reduction of advance corporation tax.

52. —(1) Notwithstanding anything in this Chapter, the amount of advance corporation tax which a company shall be liable to pay in respect of distributions made by it in an accounting period ending on or before the 8th day of February, 1984, shall be one-half of the amount of advance corporation tax which, apart from this section, the company would have been liable to pay in respect of those distributions.

(2) Where part of an accounting period of a company falls before the 9th day of February, 1984, and the other part falls in a period beginning on that date, this Chapter shall apply as if the part ending on the 8th day of February, 1984, and the part beginning on the 9th day of February, 1984, were two separate accounting periods.

Application of Corporation Tax Acts.

53. —The provisions of the Corporation Tax Acts as to the charge, calculation and payment of corporation tax (including provisions conferring any relief or exemption) shall not be construed as affecting the charge, calculation or payment of advance corporation tax.