Finance Bill — Rates of duty, etc.: reference to Retail Price Index — 18 Jul 2000

Not amended in the Committee and as amended in the Standing Committee, considered.

Ordered ,

(2) Case 1 is where B holds the estate or interest as nominee or bare trustee for A.

(3) Case 2 is where A is to hold the estate or interest as nominee or bare trustee for B.

(4) Case 3 is where B holds the estate or interest as nominee or bare trustee for some other person and A is to hold it as nominee or bare trustee for that other person.

(5) Case 4 is where (in a case not falling within subsection (2) or (4) above)--

(a) the transfer or vesting is a conveyance or transfer out of a settlement in or towards satisfaction of a beneficiary's interest;

(b) the beneficiary's interest is not an interest acquired for money or money's worth; and

(c) the conveyance or transfer is a distribution of property in accordance with the provisions of the settlement.

(6) Case 5 is where (in a case not falling within subsection (3) above) A--

(a) is a person carrying on a business which consists of or includes the management of trusts; and

(b) is to hold the estate or interest as trustee acting in the course of that business.

(7) Case 6 is where (in a case not falling within subsection (3) above) A is to hold the estate or interest as trustee and, apart from section 839(3) of the Taxes Act 1988 (trustees as connected persons), would not be connected with B.

(8) Case 7 is where--

(a) B is a company;

(b) the transfer or vesting is, or is part of, a distribution of assets (whether or not in connection with the winding up of the company); and

(c) the estate or interest was acquired by B by virtue of an instrument which is duly stamped.

(9) This section shall be construed as one with the Stamp Act 1891.

(10) This section applies to instruments executed after the day on which this Act is passed.'.-- [Miss Melanie Johnson.]

Brought up, and read the First time.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause read a Second time, and added to the Bill.

(a) an instrument transferring or vesting an estate or interest in land in such circumstances as are mentioned in section 119 (transfer of land to connected company), in a case specified in section ( Stamp duty: exceptions from section 119 ) (excepted cases);

(b) a conveyance or transfer of an estate or interest in land, or a lease of land, to a qualifying landlord within the meaning of section 129 (transfers to registered social landlords, etc.) from a qualifying transferor within subsection (6)(c), (d), (e), (f) or (h) of that section.

(2) If the instrument is not stamped until after the day on which this Act is passed, the law in force at the time of its execution shall be deemed for stamp duty purposes to be that which would have applied if it had been executed after that day.

(3) If the Commissioners are satisfied that--

(a) the instrument was stamped on or before the day on which this Act is passed,

(b) stamp duty was chargeable in respect of it, and

(c) had it been stamped after that day no stamp duty, or less stamp duty, would have been chargeable,

they shall pay to such person as they consider appropriate an amount equal to the duty (and any interest or penalty) that would not have been payable if the law in force at the time of execution of the instrument had been that which would have applied had it been executed after that day.

(4) Any such payment must be claimed before 1st April 2001.

(5) Entitlement to a payment is subject to compliance with such conditions as the Commissioners may determine with respect to the production of the instrument, to its being stamped so as to indicate that it has been produced under this section or to other matters.

(6) For the purposes of section 10 of the Exchequer and Audit Departments Act 1866 (Commissioners to deduct repayments from gross revenues) any amount paid under this section shall be treated as a repayment.

(7) This section shall be construed as one with the Stamp Act 1891.'.-- [Mr. Jamieson.]

Brought up, read the First and Second time, and added to the Bill.

(4) In section 97A of that Act (clearance services: election for alternative system of charge), after subsection (12) add--

"(13) Nothing in section 70(9) or 97(1) above has effect to prevent a charge to stamp duty or stamp duty reserve tax arising--

(a) on a transfer to which subsection (5) above applies, or

(b) on a deemed transfer under subsection (11) above.".

(5) The amendments in this section have effect as follows--

(a) subsection (1), and subsections (3) and (4) as they apply for stamp duty purposes, apply in relation to instruments executed after the day on which this Act is passed;

(b) subsection (2), and subsections (3) and (4) as they apply for the purposes of stamp duty reserve tax, apply where the securities are transferred after that day.'.-- [Mr. Jamieson.]

Brought up, read the First and Second time, and added to the Bill.

(2) In subsection (1) for the words "lower rate income", substitute "lower rate income or gains".

(3) In subsection (3) for the words from the beginning to "following descriptions", substitute--

"(3) In this section, references to a company's lower rate income or gains for any accounting period are references to all of the chargeable gains of its basic life assurance and general annuity business for the period, and to so much of the income of that business for the period as consists in income of any of the following descriptions--".

(4) In subsections (4), (5) and (6), for the words "lower rate income", in each place where they occur, substitute "lower rate income or gains".

(5) This section has effect for the financial year 2000 and subsequent years.'.-- [Mr. Jack.]

Brought up, and read the First time.

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

New clause 1 would make a small--some may even say technical--change to the method of taxing life assurance policies. That small change, however, represents an attempt to bring the way in which the taxation of such policies deals with capital gains tax, in terms of taxation within the policy, into line with the change in the impact of CGT on those with assets whose value increases outside life assurance policies.

I accept that the case for change is not totally without merit.

Motion and clause, by leave, withdrawn.

Brought up, and read the First time.

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

Mr. Deputy Speaker:

With this it will be convenient to discuss new clause 7-- Timing of announcement of pensioner income tax allowances --

I think that I am right in saying that the hon. Gentleman has never been in government, so I suppose he can be forgiven for not knowing how the tax system works.

The methodology used for this year's increase is exactly the same as that which has been used in previous years. It is the same methodology that the Conservative Government used.--[ Official Report , 6 April 2000; Vol. 347, c. 1145.]

That was flatly untrue. I have already described how in 1997 the incoming Labour Government changed the methodology from one based on an historical index to one based on a projected index. I should be grateful if the Minister would apologise for misleading the House.

income tax credits . . . score as public expenditure under national accounting conventions.

It is something that I should like to address.

The hon. Gentleman made a point on coding notices. We are aware of that matter and are examining it. We have not yet found a solution to it, but we are still looking for one.--[ Official Report , 9 June 2000; Vol. 351, c. 617-18.]

The oil price is likely to stay at about $10 to $12 a barrel--at least in the foreseeable future--[ Official Report, Scottish Grand Committee , 1 February 1999; c. 8.]

Question put, That the clause be read a Second time:--

The House divided: Ayes 168, Noes 319.

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