Broadcasting Act 1996

Corporation tax: group relief

20(1)None of the following, namely—

(a)the existence of the powers of any Minister of the Crown or the BBC under Part VI of this Act or under the documents regulating the BBC,

(b)any direction given by a Minister of the Crown under that Part or those documents, so far as that direction relates to a transfer scheme or (in a case where there is a preparatory scheme) to the sale of shares or securities issued by the successor company, or

(c)any arrangements (of any kind, whether in writing or not) so far as relating to a transfer scheme or any such sale,

shall be regarded as constituting arrangements falling within subsection (1) or (2) of section 410 of the Taxes Act 1988 (arrangements for the transfer of a company to another group or consortium).

(2)Neither—

(a)the existence of the powers of any Minister of the Crown or the BBC under Part VI of this Act or under the documents regulating the BBC, nor

(b)any direction given as mentioned in sub-paragraph (1)(b),

shall be regarded as constituting option arrangements for the purposes of paragraph 5B of Schedule 18 to the Taxes Act 1988.

(3)Any reference in sub-paragraph (1) or (2) to the documents regulating the BBC is a reference to those documents only so far as they have effect in relation to a disposal by the BBC of—

(a)the whole or any part of the BBC transmission network, or

(b)any shares or securities of a successor company,

or the initiating, advancing or facilitating of any such disposal.

(4)In this paragraph “Minister of the Crown” has the same meaning as in the Ministers of the [1975 c. 26.] Crown Act 1975.