Finance Act 2000 (c. 17)

(The document as of February, 2008)

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Part IV The training requirement

Introduction

23 (1) It is a condition of entering tonnage tax or making a renewal election that--

(a) in the case of a single company, the company, or

(b) in the case of a group, the group,

meets certain minimum obligations in connection with the training of seafarers.

(2) The provisions of this Part of this Schedule have effect for securing that result.

The minimum training obligation

24 (1) The Secretary of State may make provision by regulations as to the minimum obligation of a tonnage tax company as regards the training of seafarers.

(2) The regulations may--

(a) require the company to provide training for a minimum number of seafarers calculated on such basis as may be prescribed, and

(b) impose different requirements with respect to the training of officers and ratings.

Paragraph (b) is without prejudice to the general power to make different provision for different cases (see paragraph 36(2)(a)).

(3) The regulations may impose such requirements as to the nationality and ordinary residence of trainees as appear to the Secretary of State to be appropriate.

(4) References in this Part of this Schedule to "the minimum training obligation" are--

(a) in relation to a single company, to the minimum obligation of that company, and

(b) in relation to a group, to the minimum obligations of the qualifying companies in the group taken as a whole.

Meaning of "training commitment"

25 (1) References in this Part of this Schedule to a "training commitment" are to a statement by a company or group setting out how it proposes to meet the minimum training obligation.

(2) A training commitment is not effective for the purposes of this Part of this Schedule unless approved by the Secretary of State.

(3) Sub-paragraphs (1) and (2) are subject to--

paragraph 27(4) and (5) (power of Secretary of State to set training commitment), and

paragraph 28(2) (power of Secretary of State to adjust training commitment to take account of changed circumstances).

Approval of initial training commitment

26 (1) A company or group proposing to make a tonnage tax election must produce, and submit to the Secretary of State for approval, an initial training commitment.

(2) If the Secretary of State is satisfied that the proposals are adequate to meet the minimum training obligation, he shall approve the initial training commitment and issue a certificate to that effect.

(3) A tonnage tax election is ineffective unless such a certificate of approval is in force with respect to the training commitment of the company or group in respect of which the election is made.

Annual training commitment

27 (1) The Secretary of State may by regulations require a tonnage tax company or tonnage tax group--

(a) to produce a training commitment at such annual or other intervals as may be prescribed in respect of such period as may be prescribed, and

(b) to submit it to the Secretary of State for approval.

(2) If the Secretary of State is satisfied that the proposals are adequate to meet the minimum training obligation, he shall approve the training commitment and issue a certificate to that effect.

(3) It is an offence to fail to comply with any requirement imposed by regulations under sub-paragraph (1).

(4) The Secretary of State may make provision by regulations enabling him--

(a) to set the training commitment for a company or group if, after such period as may be prescribed, no training commitment has been submitted to and approved by him; and

(b) on the application of the company or group concerned, made after consultation with any prescribed person involved in the training of seafarers, to vary a training commitment set by him.

(5) A training commitment set by the Secretary of State has effect as if submitted by the company or group and approved by him.

Supplementary provisions about training commitments

28 (1) The Secretary of State may make provision by regulations--

(a) as to the form and contents of a training commitment;

(b) requiring an application for approval of a training commitment to be in such form and contain such information as may be prescribed;

(c) authorising the Secretary of State, when considering a training commitment, to consult any prescribed person involved in the training of seafarers;

(d) as to the procedure to be followed where the Secretary of State is minded not to approve a training commitment.

(2) The Secretary of State may make provision by regulations--

(a) enabling him, on the application of the company or group concerned, to adjust a training commitment (to any extent) to take account of changed circumstances;

(b) requiring an application for adjustment to be in such form and contain such information as may be prescribed;

(c) authorising the Secretary of State, when considering an application for adjustment, to consult any prescribed person involved in the training of seafarers;

(d) as to the procedure to be followed where the Secretary of State is minded not to make the adjustment applied for.

(3) The Secretary of State may by regulations make such provision as he thinks appropriate as to the effect in relation to a training commitment of a merger or other transaction resulting in a change of control of one or more companies.

Payments in lieu of training

29 (1) The Secretary of State may make provision by regulations--

(a) allowing a company or group, in such circumstances and to such extent as may be prescribed, to propose in its training commitment to meet the minimum training obligation by making payments in lieu of training; and

(b) requiring a company or group to make payments in lieu of training--

(i) where its training commitment provides for such payments;

(ii) where training is not provided in accordance with its training commitment.

(2) The regulations shall provide for payments in lieu of training--

(a) to be calculated on such basis as may be prescribed,

(b) to be made to or for the benefit of any prescribed person involved in the training of seafarers, and

(3) The regulations may provide that if in any case there is a failure in relation to a company or group to comply with the requirements of this Part of this Schedule with respect to--

(a) the submission of training commitments, or

(b) the making of returns or provision of information,

the Secretary of State may determine to the best of his information and belief the amount of the payments in lieu of training to be made by the company or group.

(4) The regulations may provide that a payment in lieu of training that has become due but is unpaid--

(a) is a debt due to the Secretary of State or any prescribed person involved in the training of seafarers, and

(b) carries interest at such rate as may be prescribed.

(5) The regulations may provide for the costs or expenses of any legal or other proceedings for recovering the debt or interest to be recoverable, and to carry interest, in the same way as the debt.

Monitoring of compliance with training commitment

30 (1) The Secretary of State may make provision by regulations--

(a) requiring a return to be made to the Secretary of State or any prescribed person involved in the training of seafarers, at such intervals as may be prescribed, of such information as may be prescribed relating to--

(i) the training provided, and

(ii) any payments in lieu of training made,

by a tonnage tax company or tonnage tax group;

(b) authorising the Secretary of State to direct any person to provide such information as the Secretary of State may reasonably require for the purposes of ascertaining--

(i) what the minimum training obligation of a company or group should be,

(ii) whether the proposals in a training commitment are adequate to meet the minimum training obligation of a company or group, or

(iii) whether a company or group has complied with its training commitment;

(i) of a qualifying single company, or

(ii) of the qualifying companies in a group,

for the purpose of checking that any return or information provided to the Secretary of State is correct.

(2) A person commits an offence if without reasonable excuse--

(a) he fails to make a return that he is required to make by regulations under sub-paragraph (1)(a),

(b) having been directed under regulations under sub-paragraph (1)(b) to provide any information, he fails to comply with the direction, or

Higher rate of payment in case of failure to meet training commitment

31 (1) The Secretary of State may by regulations provide that--

(a) if a company fails to meet its training commitment in any period, the amount of any payments in lieu of training that fall to be made by the company in a subsequent period shall be at a higher rate; and

(b) if a group fails to meet its training commitment in any period, the amount of any payments in lieu of training that fall to be made by any member of the group in a subsequent period shall be at a higher rate.

(2) The regulations may contain provision as to--

(a) the periods by reference to which it is to be determined whether a company or group has met its training commitment;

(b) the circumstances in which a company or group is to be treated as failing to meet its training commitment;

(d) any circumstances in which the higher rate is not to be payable despite the failure of a company or group to meet its training commitment.

(3) The regulations may make provision having the effect that the rate of payments in lieu of training is progressively increased if a company or group fails to meet its training commitment in successive periods.

Certificate of non-compliance

32 (1) The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision authorising the Secretary of State to issue a certificate of non-compliance in the following cases.

(2) The regulations may authorise the issue of a certificate of non-compliance in respect of a single company if--

(a) the company fails to meet its training commitment for successive periods amounting to not less than two years, or

(b) the company, or any of its officers, commits an offence under this Schedule.

(3) The regulations may authorise the issue of a certificate of non-compliance in respect of a group if--

(a) the group fails to meet its training commitment for successive periods amounting to not less than two years, or

(b) a member of the group, or an officer of a member, commits an offence under this Schedule.

(4) If such regulations are made they shall provide that a certificate of non-compliance must be issued unless the Secretary of State is satisfied that there are good reasons why a certificate should not be issued.

(5) No renewal election may be made in respect of a company or group in relation to which a certificate of non-compliance is in force.

Certificates of non-compliance: supplementary provisions

33 (1) The Secretary of State may make provision by regulations--

(a) enabling a company or group in respect of which a certificate of non-compliance has been issued to apply to the Secretary of State to cancel the certificate;

(b) requiring any such application to be in such form and contain such information as may be prescribed;

(c) authorising or requiring the Secretary of State, when considering such an application, to consult any prescribed person involved in the training of seafarers;

(d) as to the procedure to be followed where the Secretary of State is minded not to cancel a certificate of non-compliance.

(2) The Secretary of State may by regulations make such provision as he thinks appropriate as to the effect on a certificate of non-compliance of a merger or demerger relating to the company or group in respect of which the certificate is in force.

Disclosure of information

34 (1) No obligation as to secrecy or other restriction on the disclosure of information imposed by statute or otherwise prevents the disclosure of information--

(a) by the Secretary of State to the Inland Revenue for the purpose of assisting the Inland Revenue to discharge their functions under the Corporation Tax Acts so far as relating to matters arising under this Schedule, or

(b) by the Inland Revenue to the Secretary of State for the purpose of assisting the Secretary of State to discharge his functions under this Part of this Schedule.

(2) No obligation as to secrecy or other restriction on the disclosure of information imposed by statute or otherwise prevents the disclosure of information--

(a) by the Secretary of State to any prescribed person involved in the training of seafarers, or

(b) by any such person to the Secretary of State,

for the purposes of assisting the Secretary of State to discharge his functions under this Part of this Schedule.

(3) Information obtained by such disclosure as is mentioned in sub-paragraph (1) or (2) shall not be further disclosed except for the purposes of legal proceedings arising out of the functions referred to.

Offences

35 (1) It is an offence for a person to provide for any of the purposes of this Part of this Schedule information that he knows or has reasonable cause to believe is false in a material particular.

(2) A person committing any offence under this Part of this Schedule, is liable--

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, and

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine.

General provisions about regulations

36 (1) Regulations under this Part of this Schedule shall be made by statutory instrument which shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of the House of Commons.

(2) Regulations under this Part of this Schedule--

(a) may make different provision for different cases, and

(b) may contain such supplementary, incidental and transitional provisions as appear to the Secretary of State to be necessary or expedient.

(3) In this Part of this Schedule "prescribed" means prescribed by regulations made by the Secretary of State.

(4) Regulations under this Part of this Schedule may make provision as to the obligations of a company in respect of any part of the period--

(a) beginning with 1st January 2000, and

(b) ending immediately before the first regulations under this Part come into force,

during which the company is, or is treated as having been, subject to tonnage tax.

This includes power to require payments in lieu of training to be made in respect of any such part of that period.

Part V Other requirements

The requirement that not more than 75% of fleet tonnage is chartered in

37 (1) It is a requirement of entering or remaining within tonnage tax--

(a) in the case of a single company, that not more than 75% of the net tonnage of the qualifying ships operated by it is chartered in;

(b) in the case of a group, that not more than 75% of the aggregate net tonnage of the qualifying ships operated by the members of the group that are qualifying companies is chartered in.

(2) For this purpose a ship is "chartered in"--

(a) in relation to a single company, if it is chartered to the company otherwise than on bareboat charter terms, or

(b) in relation to a group, if it is chartered otherwise than on bareboat charter terms to a qualifying member of the group by a person who is not a qualifying member of the group.

In paragraph (b) "qualifying member of the group" means a qualifying company that is a member of the group.

(3) A ship shall not be counted more than once in determining for the purposes of sub-paragraph (1)(b) the aggregate net tonnage of the qualifying ships operated by the members of a group that are qualifying companies.

(4) In the following provisions the requirement in this paragraph is referred to as "the 75% limit"--

paragraph 38 (election not effective if limit exceeded), and

paragraphs 39 and 40 (exclusion of company or group where limit exceeded).

(5) References to the limit being exceeded in an accounting period are to its being exceeded on average over the period in question.

The 75% limit: election not effective if limit exceeded

38 (1) Where a tonnage tax election is made before the end of the initial period and the 75% limit is exceeded in the first relevant accounting period, the election is treated as never having been of any effect.

(2) Where a tonnage tax election is made after the end of the initial period, then--

(a) if the 75% limit is exceeded in the first relevant accounting period, the election does not have effect in relation to that period;

(b) if the 75% limit is exceeded in the first and second relevant accounting periods, the election does not have effect in relation to either of those periods; and

(c) if the 75% limit is exceeded in the first, second and third relevant accounting periods, the election is treated as never having been of any effect.

(3) For the purposes of sub-paragraphs (1) and (2) the first, second or third relevant accounting period means--

(a) in relation to a single company, the accounting period that, if the election had been effective, would have been the first, second or third accounting period of the company after its entry into tonnage tax;

(b) in relation to a group, the accounting period that, if the election had been effective, would have been the first, second or third accounting period of a member of the group that would have been a tonnage tax company.

(4) Sub-paragraphs (1) and (2) do not apply to a renewal election.

The 75% limit: exclusion of company if limit exceeded

39 (1) If the 75% limit is exceeded in two or more consecutive accounting periods of a single company subject to tonnage tax, the Inland Revenue may give notice excluding the company from tonnage tax.

(2) The effect of the notice is that the company's tonnage tax election ceases to be in force from such date as may be specified in the notice.

The specified date must not be earlier than the beginning of the accounting period of the company that follows the second consecutive accounting period of the company in which the limit is exceeded.

The 75% limit: exclusion of group if limit exceeded

40 (1) If the 75% limit is exceeded in relation to a tonnage tax group in two or more consecutive accounting periods of any tonnage tax company that is a member of the group ("the relevant company"), the Inland Revenue may give notice excluding the group from tonnage tax.

(2) The effect of the notice is that the group's tonnage tax election ceases to be in force from such date as may be specified in the notice.

The specified date must not be earlier than the beginning of the accounting period of the relevant company that follows the second consecutive accounting period of that company in which the limit is exceeded.

(3) Notice under this paragraph need only be given to the relevant company.

This is subject to any arrangements under paragraph 120 (arrangements for dealing with group matters).

The requirement not to enter into tax avoidance arrangements

41 (1) It is a condition of remaining within tonnage tax that a company is not a party to any transaction or arrangement that is an abuse of the tonnage tax regime.

(2) A transaction or arrangement is such an abuse if in consequence of its being, or having been, entered into the provisions of this Schedule fall to be applied in a way that results (or would but for this paragraph result) in--

(a) a tax advantage being obtained for--

(i) a company other than a tonnage tax company, or

(ii) a tonnage tax company in respect of its non-tonnage tax activities,

(b) the amount of the tonnage tax profits of a tonnage tax company being artificially reduced.

(3) In this paragraph "tax advantage" has the same meaning as in Chapter I of Part XVII of the Taxes Act 1988 (tax avoidance) (see section 709 of that Act).

(4) A finance lease is not to be taken as being an abuse of the tonnage tax regime by reason of the lessor obtaining capital allowances as a result of the lease being, or having been, entered into.

In this sub-paragraph "finance lease", and "lessor" in relation to such a lease, have the meaning given by section 82A of the [1990 c. 1.] Capital Allowances Act 1990.

Tax avoidance: exclusion from tonnage tax

42 (1) If a tonnage tax company is a party to any such transaction or arrangement as is mentioned in paragraph 41(1), the Inland Revenue may--

(a) if it is a single company, give notice excluding it from tonnage tax;

(b) if it is a member of a group, give notice excluding the group from tonnage tax.

(2) The effect of the notice in the case of a single company is that the company's tonnage tax election ceases to be in force from the beginning of the accounting period in which the transaction or arrangement was entered into.

(3) The effect of such a notice in the case of a group is that the group's tonnage tax election ceases to be in force from such date as may be specified in the notice.

The specified date must not be earlier than the beginning of the earliest accounting period in which any member of the group entered into the transaction or arrangement in question.

(4) The provisions of paragraphs 138 and 139 (exit charge: chargeable gains and balancing charges) apply where a company ceases to be a tonnage tax company by virtue of this paragraph.

(5) Notice under this sub-paragraph (1)(b) need only be given to the company mentioned in the opening words of that sub-paragraph.

This is subject to any arrangements under paragraph 120 (arrangements for dealing with group matters).

Appeals

43 (1) An appeal lies to the Special Commissioners against a notice given by the Inland Revenue under--

paragraph 39 or 40 (exclusion of company or group from tonnage tax if 75% limit exceeded), or

paragraph 42 (exclusion from tonnage tax of company or group where tax avoidance arrangement entered into).

(2) Notice of appeal must be given to the Inland Revenue within 30 days of the date of issue of the notice appealed against.

(3) In the case of a notice under paragraph 40 or 42(1)(b) only one appeal may be brought, but it may be brought jointly by two or more members of the group concerned.

Part VI Relevant shipping profits

Introduction

44 (1) For the purposes of this Schedule the relevant shipping profits of a tonnage tax company are--

(a) its relevant shipping income (as defined below), and

(b) so much of its chargeable gains as is effectively excluded from the charge to tax by the provisions of Part VIII of this Schedule.

(2) The "relevant shipping income" of a tonnage tax company means--

(a) its income from tonnage tax activities (see paragraphs 45 to 48), and

(b) any income that is relevant shipping income under--

paragraph 49 (distributions of overseas shipping companies), or
paragraph 50 (certain interest etc.),

but subject to paragraph 51 (general exclusion of investment income).

Tonnage tax activities

45 (1) References in this Schedule to the "tonnage tax activities" of a tonnage tax company are to--

(a) its core qualifying activities (see paragraph 46),

(b) its qualifying secondary activities to the extent that they do not exceed the permitted level (see paragraph 47), and

(2) Sub-paragraph (1) has effect subject to paragraph 51(2) (exclusion of activities giving rise to investment income).

Core qualifying activities

46 (1) A tonnage tax company's "core qualifying activities" are--

(a) its activities in operating qualifying ships, and

(b) other ship-related activities that are a necessary and integral part of the business of operating its qualifying ships.

(2) A company's activities in operating qualifying ships means the activities mentioned in paragraph 19(1)(a) to (d) by virtue of which the ship is a qualifying ship.

Qualifying secondary activities

47 (1) The Inland Revenue may make provision by regulations as to--

(a) the descriptions of activity that are to be regarded as qualifying secondary activities, and

(b) the permitted level in relation to any such activity or description of activity.

(2) The regulations may set the permitted level or provide for its determination by reference to such factors as may be specified in the regulations.

Qualifying incidental activities

48 (1) A company's incidental activities means its ship-related activities that--

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