Clause 54 - Loan relationships
Finance Bill
4:15 pm
Richard Spring (Shadow Minister, Treasury; West Suffolk, Conservative)
Clause 54 seeks to extend to loan relationship issues the clearance regime that applies to the SE legislation in respect of capital gains tax issues. The clause does not apply if a main purpose of the SE's formation by merger was the avoidance of tax. The amendment seeks to use the existing mechanism on capital gains to obtain clearance that the merger does not have a main purpose of tax avoidance.
I turn to amendment No. 158. Clause 55 seeks to extend to derivatives the clearance regime that applies to the SE legislation in respect of capital gains tax issues. Again, the clause does not apply if a main purpose of the formation of the SE by merger was the avoidance of tax, so the amendment seeks to use the existing mechanism in relation to capital gains to obtain clearance that the merger does not have a main purpose of tax avoidance.
I would be grateful if the Minister clarified his view of the clause.