Finance Act, 1916

4 & 5 Geo. 5. c. 10.

Additional income tax on securities which the Treasury are willing to purchase.

27(1) In addition to any other income tax or super-tax charged under this or any other Act, there shall, subject to the provisions of this Section, be charged, levied, and paid for the year beginning on the sixth day of April, nineteen hundred and sixteen, in respect of any part of the cincome of any person to which this section applies an additional duty of income tax at the rate of two shillings for every pound of that part of the income.

The income to which this section applies is the income derived from securities which are for the time being included in the Treasury special list as defined by this section, while those securities are so included; and the income shall, for the purposes of this section, be deemed to be derived at the time when the interest or dividends payable in respect of the securities become payable.

(2) The additional duty under this section shall not be charged on any income derived before the twenty-ninth day of July, nineteen hundred and sixteen.

(3) A person shall be entitled to relief from the additional duty imposed by this section—

(a) in respect of income derived between the date of the publication of the Treasury special list and a date twenty-eight days thereafter if the securities are during that period offered to the Treasury and ultimately become at teh absolute disposal of the Treasury; and

(b) in respect of income derived from any securities included in the Treasury special list after the securities have been placed at the absolute disposal of the Treasury; and

(c) in respect of income derived from any such securities after a person has placed the securities conditionally at the disposal of the Treasury, if the securities ultimately become at the absolute disposal of the Treasury without unreasonable delay on the part of that person; and

(d) in respect of income derived from any such securities whether they ultimately become at the absolute disposal of the Treasury or not, if it is shown to the satisfaction of the Treasury that any delay in placing or failure to place those securities at the disposal of the Treasury has arisen from circumstances beyond the control of the holders of the securities; and

(e) in respect of income derived from any such securities held, in any contrary outside the United Kingdom, by persons who are not domiciled in the United Kingdom, or by trustees who are prevented by the laws of such other country or by the terms of their trust from placing the securities at the disposal of the Treasury, and are not entitled to the benefit of any indemnity conferred by Act of Parliament in respect of the contravention of those terms, if the securities were so held before the twenty-ninth day of May nineteen hundred and sixteen; or where such securities are under the jurisdiction of a court in such other country and it would be contrary to the laws of such other country to place such securities at the disposal of the Treasury; and

(f) in respct of income derived from any such securities which are deposited with persons outside the United Kingdom as a security for a loan from those persons, or have otherwise been made security for a loan from persons outside the United Kingdom, if they were so deposited or made security before the twenty-ninth day of May nineteen hundred and sixteen, or after that date with the approval of the Treasury, and if the Treasury are satisfied that the securities cannot be released without impairing the security for the loan; and

(g) in respect of income derived from any such securities which are proved to the Special Commissioners to be held by any company or persons concerned in trade or business in any country outside the United Kingdom as a condition (imposed in that country) of carrying on that trade or business.

The provisions of this subsection shall apply to an offer of securities for deposit in the same manner as they apply to an offer of securities for sale, and securities when accepted for deposit shall, while so deposited, for the purposes of this subsection, be deemed to be at the absolute disposal of the Treasury.

(4) The power under the Income Tax Acts, to require a person to make returns for the purposes of those Acts, shall include power to rquire him to make such returns as appear to the Commissioners of Inland Revenue to be necessary for the purpose of ascertaining whether any of the income of that person (whether or not income tax thereon is chargeable by deduction) is income to which this section applies, including such particulars as to taht income as the Commissioners may require, and those Acts, including the provisions imposing penalties, shall apply accordingly.

(5) Where any income to which this section applies is derived from securities which are held on trust by more than one trustee the securities may be placed at the disposal of the Treasury if, whre there are two trustees, one trustee and the persons entitled to the income of the securities, and, where there are more than two trustees, one-half or more of the number of the trustees and the persons entitlted to the income of the securities, are willing that the securities should be so placed at the disposal of the Treasury; and any action taken by such trustees or beneficiaries for the purpose of placing any such securities at the disposal of the Treasury shall, notwithstanding anything in the terms of the trust or any rule of law to the contrary, be as valid and effectual in all respects as though all the trustees had consented thereto and had joined therein.

(6) A person shall not be entitled to any exemption, abatement, or relief under the Income Tax Acts (other than relief depending solely on residence or domicile) in respect of the additional income tax imposed by this section, but in all other respects the provisions of the Income Tax Acts relating to persons who are to be chargeable with duty, assessments, and appeals against those assessments, and to the collection and recovery of duty, and to cases to be stated for the opinion of the High Court shall, so far as they are applicable, apply to the charge, assessment, collection, and recovery of duty under this section:

Provided that the Treasury may give directions that the additional duty imposed by this section shall, instead of being charged by deduction, be charged up to the same amount by direct assessment for the period, and in the cases mentioned in those directions, and where any such directions are given, the Income Tax Act shall have effect accordingly.

(7) In this section—

The expression “securities” includes stocks, shares, and other securities; and

The expression “the Treasury special list” means any list published by the Treasury in the Gazette, and for the time being in force, of securities which the Treasury are willing to purchase in connection with any arrangements for the regulation and maintenance of the foreign exchanges.