Finance Act 2015

Tax treatment of return of value on certain shares where shareholders affected by postal delays

69. The Principal Act is amended by inserting the following section after section 847B:

“Tax treatment of return of value on certain shares where shareholders affected by postal delays

847C. (1) In this section—

‘company’ means Standard Life plc;

‘deadline specified by the company’ means 4.30 pm on 18 March 2015;

‘relevant person’ means a person whose form electing to take B shares in the company was received after the deadline specified by the company;

‘return of value’ means the dividend paid in respect of fully paid bonus C shares issued to shareholders in the company in accordance with the terms of a return of value and related share consolidation which was completed by the company on or about 20 March 2015.

(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the receipt by a relevant person of a return of value in respect of shares where an election to take B shares was made, shall be deemed, for the purposes of capital gains tax, to be the receipt of a capital sum derived from the person’s ordinary shares in the company and not to be income.

(3) Subsection (2) shall not apply unless the person referred to in that subsection proves to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners that the form, being the form by which that person elected to take B shares—

(a) was completed and signed by that person before the deadline specified by the company for the receipt of such forms, and

(b) was, due to delays in the postal system, received in hard copy by post by or on behalf of the company after that deadline.”.