Finance Bill - continued        House of Commons

back to previous text
 
 
 

 
 
 
SCHEDULE 2
 
  ADMINISTRATION AND COLLECTION OF WINDFALL TAX
 
Returns
     1. - (1) The Board may by notice require any company which in their opinion is or may be a chargeable company to deliver to the Board a return complying with this paragraph.
 
      (2) A company which has been required under this paragraph to deliver a return to the Board shall do so-
 
 
    (a) except in a case where the Board's notice requiring the return is given after 1st November 1997, on or before 1st December 1997; and
 
    (b) in the excepted case, before the end of the period of 30 days beginning with the day after that on which that notice is given.
      (3) A return delivered to the Board under this paragraph must-
 
 
    (a) set out the amount of windfall tax (if any) with which the company is charged;
 
    (b) contain all such information about the matters mentioned in sub-paragraph (4) below as the Board may reasonably require; and
 
    (c) be accompanied by all such accounts, statements and other records as the Board may reasonably require.
      (4) Those matters are-
 
 
    (a) the method used for the computation of any amount set out in the return as the amount of windfall tax with which the company is charged;
 
    (b) the accounts, statements and other records by reference to which the computation of any amount so set out has been made;
 
    (c) any group of companies of which that company is or has at any time been a member; and
 
    (d) any other matters relevant to the extent of any liability of the company under this Part.
      (5) A return delivered to the Board under this paragraph-
 
 
    (a) shall be in such form as the Board may require; and
 
    (b) shall contain a declaration by the person making the return that it is correct and complete.
      (6) Where-
 
 
    (a) a company has delivered a return to the Board under this paragraph, and
 
    (b) that return sets out any amount as the amount of windfall tax with which the company is charged,
  that amount shall be taken, except in so far as any other amount is assessed or otherwise determined under the following provisions of this Schedule, to be the amount of windfall tax with which that company is charged.
 
      (7) Where-
 
 
    (a) the Board have, at any time before the passing of this Act, given notice to any company requiring it to deliver a return, and
 
    (b) that notice stated that it was given in anticipation of the passing of this Act and that, in the opinion of the Board, the company is likely to be a chargeable company,
  that notice shall have effect on and after the day on which this Act is passed as if it were a notice given on that day in exercise of the power conferred by sub-paragraph (1) above.
 
 
Notification of liability and failure to make return
     2. - (1) If a chargeable company has not, before 1st December 1997, either-
 
 
    (a) given notice to the Board that it is a chargeable company, or
 
    (b) been required by a notice under paragraph 1(1) above to deliver a return to the Board,
  that company shall be liable to a penalty of an amount not exceeding the amount of the windfall tax with which it is charged.
 
      (2) A company which-
 
 
    (a) has been required by a notice under sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 1 above to deliver a return to the Board, and
 
    (b) fails to deliver the required return in accordance with that paragraph,
  shall be liable to the penalties set out in sub-paragraph (3) below.
 
      (3) Those penalties are-
 
 
    (a) a penalty of £3,000;
 
    (b) in a case where the required return has not been delivered by the end of three months from the relevant time, a penalty (in addition to the penalty under paragraph (a) above) of an amount not exceeding 10 per cent. of the amount of windfall tax with which that company is charged; and
 
    (c) in a case where the required return has not been delivered by the end of six months from the relevant time, a penalty (in addition to the penalties under paragraphs (a) and (b) above) of an amount not exceeding 20 per cent. of the amount of windfall tax with which that company is charged.
      (4) In sub-paragraph (3) above "the relevant time", in relation to the delivery of a return, means the time by which that return should under paragraph 1(2) above have been delivered.
 
 
Payment of windfall tax
     3. - (1) The amount of windfall tax with which a chargeable company is charged shall be paid by that company in two instalments as follows-
 
 
    (a) one half of the amount charged shall be paid on or before 1st December 1997; and
 
    (b) the rest shall be paid on or before 1st December 1998.
      (2) The Board, if requested to do so, shall give a receipt for any windfall tax paid.
 
      (3) The application by this Schedule of any enactment referring to the time at which an amount of tax becomes due and payable shall have effect, in relation to an amount of windfall tax, as if it referred to the time by which that amount is required to be paid under this paragraph.
 
 
General power to make assessments
     4. - (1) Subject to the following provisions of this Schedule, the amount of windfall tax with which a company is charged may be assessed on that company by the Board.
 
      (2) An assessment of the amount of windfall tax with which a company is charged may be made whether or not any amount has been paid by that company in respect of that tax when the assessment is made.
 
      (3) Subject to sub-paragraph (4) below, where-
 
 
    (a) a company has delivered a return to the Board in pursuance of paragraph 1 above, and
 
    (b) the Board are satisfied that the return is correct and complete,
  the Board shall make an assessment in accordance with the return.
 
      (4) The Board shall not be required to make an assessment under sub-paragraph (3) above in the case of a company whose return shows that it is not charged with windfall tax.
 
      (5) Where the Board make an assessment under this paragraph in a case in which the assessment is not one which the Board are required to make under sub-paragraph (3) above in accordance with a return, the Board's assessment shall be made to the best of their judgement.
 
 
Power to make assessments on discovery of unassessed liabilities
     5. - (1) If the Board discover that any company which-
 
 
    (a) has made a return in relation to which paragraph 4(4) above applied, or
 
    (b) has been assessed to an amount of windfall tax,
  has not been assessed to as much windfall tax as it should have been, they may make an assessment or further assessment of the amount which, in their opinion, is windfall tax with which that company is charged but to which it has not been assessed.
 
      (2) Where-
 
 
    (a) the Board discover that an amount of windfall tax has been repaid which ought not to have been repaid, and
 
    (b) that amount is not assessable under sub-paragraph (1) above,
  that amount may be assessed by the Board, and recovered under this Schedule from the company to which it was repaid, as if it were an amount of windfall tax which that company is liable to pay.
 
      (3) Where the amount of any assessment to windfall tax is reduced, the company assessed shall not for the purposes of this paragraph be treated, at any time after the reduction, as having been already assessed to the amount of windfall tax comprised in the reduction.
 
 
Supplemental provisions about assessments
     6. - (1) An assessment shall not be made under this Schedule at any time on or after 1st December 2003.
 
      (2) Where an assessment is made under this Schedule, notice of that assessment shall be served on the company assessed.
 
      (3) The notice of any assessment under this Schedule must state-
 
 
    (a) the date on which it is issued; and
 
    (b) the time within which any appeal against the assessment may be made.
      (4) After the notice of any assessment under this Schedule has been served on the company assessed-
 
 
    (a) the assessment shall not be withdrawn;
 
    (b) the assessment shall not be amended, except in accordance with provision made or applied by this Schedule; and
 
    (c) the company shall not, except in accordance with any provision so made or applied, be entitled to the repayment of any amount on the grounds that the amounts of windfall tax assessed on that company are excessive.
      (5) Where notice of any assessment under this Schedule has been served on the company assessed, the amount of the assessment-
 
 
    (a) shall be deemed (subject to the provisions of this Schedule) to be an amount of windfall tax with which that company is charged; and
 
    (b) subject to the provisions of this Part about the payment of windfall tax in instalments, may be recovered accordingly.
      (6) Liability to pay an instalment of windfall tax does not depend on the making of an assessment; and nothing in the provisions of this Schedule about the making of assessments shall affect the times which are taken for the purposes of this Part to be the times by which companies are required under paragraph 3 above to pay instalments of windfall tax.
 
 
Claims to relieve double assessment
     7. - (1) If, on a claim made to the Board, it appears to their satisfaction that a company has been assessed to the same amount of windfall tax more than once, the Board shall direct that so much of any assessment made on that company under this Schedule as appears to them to be excessive is to be vacated.
 
      (2) A claim under sub-paragraph (1) above-
 
 
    (a) must be made in such form as the Board may require; and
 
    (b) shall not be made after the end of the period of six years beginning with the day of the service on the claimant of the notice of the most recent assessment to which the claim relates.
      (3) On the giving of a direction under this paragraph with respect to any assessment, that assessment shall be vacated to the extent specified in the direction.
 
 
Claims to correct errors or mistakes in returns etc.
     8. - (1) If any company which has paid an amount of windfall tax assessed under this Schedule alleges that it has been, or continues to be, assessed to too much windfall tax by reason of-
 
 
    (a) some error or mistake in a return under paragraph 1 above, or
 
    (b) some error or mistake discovered by the claimant in a previous claim made by the claimant under paragraph 7 above or this paragraph,
  the company may make a claim for relief under this paragraph in respect of that error or mistake.
 
      (2) A claim under this paragraph-
 
 
    (a) must be made in such form as the Board may require; and
 
    (b) shall not be made-
 
      (i) if it relates to an error or mistake in a return, at any time on or after 1st December 2003; or
 
      (ii) if it relates to an error or mistake in a claim, at any time after the latest time at which that claim could have been made.
      (3) On receiving a claim under this paragraph, the Board shall-
 
 
    (a) inquire into the matter; and
 
    (b) give, by way of repayment to the claimant, such relief (if any) as, having regard to all the relevant circumstances, they consider just and reasonable in respect of the error or mistake in question.
 
Appeals against assessments and decisions on claims
     9. - (1) An appeal to the Special Commissioners shall lie against each of the following, that is to say-
 
 
    (a) an assessment under this Schedule;
 
    (b) a decision by the Board on a claim under paragraph 7 or 8 above.
      (2) An appeal under sub-paragraph (1) above shall be made by notice to the Board.
 
      (3) Subject to the following provisions of this paragraph, a notice of appeal under sub-paragraph (2) above-
 
 
    (a) shall not be given more than 30 days after the day on which notice of the assessment or decision appealed against was given to the appellant; and
 
    (b) must specify the grounds of appeal.
      (4) An appeal under this paragraph may be brought out of time if, on an application made for the purpose by the appellant, the Board are satisfied-
 
 
    (a) that the appellant has a reasonable excuse for not having brought the appeal within the time allowed by sub-paragraph (3) above; and
 
    (b) that there was no unreasonable delay in the making of that application;
  and, where the Board are not so satisfied, they shall refer the application to the Special Commissioners, who (if they are so satisfied) may themselves allow the appeal to be brought out of time.
 
      (5) The Special Commissioners-
 
 
    (a) may allow grounds in addition to those specified in the notice of appeal to be put forward on an appeal under this paragraph; and
 
    (b) may take the additional grounds into consideration if they are satisfied that their omission from the notice was neither wilful nor unreasonable.
      (6) Section 55 of the Management Act (postponement of tax to which an appeal relates) shall apply to an appeal under this paragraph against an assessment under this Schedule as it applies to an appeal against an assessment mentioned in subsection (1) of that section but as if, in that section-
 
 
    (a) references to tax were references to windfall tax;
 
    (b) references to the inspector were references to the Board; and
 
    (c) subsections (6)(a) and (b)(i), (6A) and (9)(a) were omitted.
 
Powers of Special Commissioners on an appeal
     10. - (1) Where there is an appeal to the Special Commissioners against an assessment under this Schedule-
 
 
    (a) the Commissioners may, if it appears to them that the amount of the assessment is too much or too little, reduce or increase the amount of the assessment accordingly; and
 
    (b) the assessment shall stand good if it is not reduced or increased under paragraph (a) above.
      (2) Where an appeal is brought under paragraph 9 above against a decision of the Board on a claim under paragraph 7 or 8 above, the Special Commissioners shall hear and determine that appeal in accordance with the principles to be followed by the Board in determining claims under that paragraph.
 
      (3) On an appeal to the Special Commissioners against a decision of the Board on a claim under paragraph 7 or 8 above, the powers of the Special Commissioners shall include power, if they think fit, to modify or cancel any decision made by the Board on that claim, including one made in favour of the appellant.
 
 
previous section contents continue
 

© Parliamentary copyright 1997
Prepared 4 July 1997