Clause 4 - Tax
Horserace Betting and Olympic Lottery Bill
10:30 am
Mr James Paice (South East Cambridgeshire, Conservative)
I must confess that I am not in the habit of writing to my wife very often, or even to other parties, but if I were to follow the example of the hon. Member for Bath and do so, I have a small degree of optimism that I might be able to on this group of amendments, not least because the Government have tabled an amendment, which simply serves to point out an omission that I made in not covering all the avenues. The amendments are simple. The clause, which relates to the tax impact of the sale and transfer of the Tote, should include reference to the new stamp duty land tax. The approach underlying the clause and the Bill is intended to ensure that the conversion of the existing board into a plc has no tax consequences. We have a new tax—believe it or not—from this Chancellor: stamp duty land tax, which came into
effect on 1 December 2003. That was probably after this Bill had gone to the printers, and therefore it is not included, but it clearly needs to be if we are to retain the planned neutral impact of the Bill. I understand that the Inland Revenue has acknowledged the need for the clause to be amended. Our proposals are simply intended to correct the omission, and I look forward to the Minister's acceptance.