Finance Act, 1995

Relief from stamp duty in case of reconstructions or amalgamations of companies.

144.—(1) Section 31 of the Finance Act, 1965 , is hereby amended—

(a) by the insertion after subsection (1) of the following subsection:

“(1A) This section shall not apply unless the scheme of reconstruction or amalgamation is effected for bona fide commercial reasons and does not form part of a scheme or arrangement of which the main purpose, or one of the main purposes, is avoidance of liability to stamp duty, income tax, corporation tax, capital gains tax or capital acquisitions tax.”,

(b) by the insertion after subsection (7) of the following subsection:

“(7A) For the removal of doubt it is hereby declared that references in this section to ‘transferee company’ are references only to a company with limited liability.”.

(2) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in section 31 of the Finance Act, 1965 , that section shall apply where—

(a) the transferee company or particular existing company referred to in that section is a company which is incorporated in another Member State of the European Union and which corresponds, under the laws of that Member State, to a transferee company or particular existing company within the meaning of that section, and

(b) subject to any necessary modifications for the purpose of so corresponding, all the other provisions of that section are met.

(3) Section 70 of the Finance Act, 1989 , and section 117 of the Finance Act, 1990 , are hereby repealed.