Finance Act 2004

SupplementaryU.K.

73Regulations under this Chapter: supplementaryU.K.

(1)The Board of Inland Revenue may by regulations make such other provision for giving effect to this Chapter as they consider necessary or expedient.

(2)The provision that may be made by regulations under subsection (1) includes provision for or in connection with modifying the application of this Chapter in circumstances where—

(a)a person acts as the agent of a contractor or sub-contractor;

(b)a person’s right to payments under a construction contract is assigned or otherwise transferred to another person.

(3)Regulations under this Chapter may make different provision for different cases.

(4)Any power under this Chapter to make regulations authorising or requiring a document (whether or not of a particular description), or any records or information, to be given or requested by or to be sent or produced to the Board of Inland Revenue includes power—

(a)to authorise the Board to nominate a person who is not an officer of the Board to be the person who on behalf of the Board—

(i)gives or requests the document, records or information; or

(ii)is the recipient of the document, records or information; and

(b)to require the document, records or information, in cases prescribed by or determined under the regulations, to be sent or produced to the address (determined in accordance with the regulations) of the person nominated by the Board to receive it on their behalf.

[F173ADesignated international organisations: exemption from section 59U.K.

(1)The Treasury may by order designate for the purposes of this section any international organisation of which the United Kingdom is a member.

(2)Section 59 does not apply to an organisation which is so designated.]

74Meaning of “construction operations”U.K.

(1)In this Chapter “construction operations” means operations of a description specified in subsection (2), not being operations of a description specified in subsection (3); and references to construction operations—

(a)except where the context otherwise requires, include references to the work of individuals participating in the carrying out of such operations; and

(b)do not include references to operations carried out or to be carried out otherwise than in the United Kingdom (or the territorial sea of the United Kingdom).

(2)The following operations are, subject to subsection (3), construction operations for the purposes of this Chapter—

(a)construction, alteration, repair, extension, demolition or dismantling of buildings or structures (whether permanent or not), including offshore installations;

(b)construction, alteration, repair, extension or demolition of any works forming, or to form, part of the land, including (in particular) walls, roadworks, power-lines, electronic communications apparatus, aircraft runways, docks and harbours, railways, inland waterways, pipe-lines, reservoirs, water-mains, wells, sewers, industrial plant and installations for purposes of land drainage, coast protection or defence;

(c)installation in any building or structure of systems of heating, lighting, air-conditioning, ventilation, power supply, drainage, sanitation, water supply or fire protection;

(d)internal cleaning of buildings and structures, so far as carried out in the course of their construction, alteration, repair, extension or restoration;

(e)painting or decorating the internal or external surfaces of any building or structure;

(f)operations which form an integral part of, or are preparatory to, or are for rendering complete, such operations as are previously described in this subsection, including site clearance, earth-moving, excavation, tunnelling and boring, laying of foundations, erection of scaffolding, site restoration, landscaping and the provision of roadways and other access works.

(3)The following operations are not construction operations for the purposes of this Chapter—

(a)drilling for, or extraction of, oil or natural gas;

(b)extraction (whether by underground or surface working) of minerals and tunnelling or boring, or construction of underground works, for this purpose;

(c)manufacture of building or engineering components or equipment, materials, plant or machinery, or delivery of any of these things to site;

(d)manufacture of components for systems of heating, lighting, air-conditioning, ventilation, power supply, drainage, sanitation, water supply or fire protection, or delivery of any of these things to site;

(e)the professional work of architects or surveyors, or of consultants in building, engineering, interior or exterior decoration or in the laying-out of landscape;

(f)the making, installation and repair of artistic works, being sculptures, murals and other works which are wholly artistic in nature;

(g)signwriting and erecting, installing and repairing signboards and advertisements;

(h)the installation of seating, blinds and shutters;

(i)the installation of security systems, including burglar alarms, closed circuit television and public address systems.

(4)The Treasury may by order made by statutory instrument amend either or both of subsections (2) and (3) by—

(a)adding,

(b)varying, or

(c)removing,

any description of operations.

(5)No statutory instrument containing an order under subsection (4) shall be made unless a draft of the instrument has been laid before and approved by a resolution of the House of Commons.

75Meaning of “the Inland Revenue” etc and delegation of Board’s functionsU.K.

(1)In this Chapter “the Inland Revenue” means any officer of the Board of Inland Revenue.

(2)In this Chapter “the Board of Inland Revenue” means the Commissioners of Inland Revenue (as to which, see in particular the Inland Revenue Regulation Act 1890 (c. 21)).

(3)The Board of Inland Revenue may make regulations providing for any of the following to be done on behalf of the Board—

(a)the registration of persons under section 63;

(b)the giving of directions under section 64(5); and

(c)the cancellation under section 66 of a person’s registration for gross payment.

76Consequential amendmentsU.K.

Schedule 12 to this Act (which makes consequential amendments) has effect.

77Commencement and transitional provisionU.K.

(1)This Chapter has effect in relation to payments made on or after the appointed day under contracts relating to construction operations.

(2)Where a certificate issued to a person under section 561 of the Taxes Act 1988 is in force immediately before the appointed day, the person is to be treated as if, on the appointed day, the Board of Inland Revenue had registered him for gross payment.

(3)Where a registration card issued to a person in accordance with regulations made under section 566(2A) of the Taxes Act 1988 is in force immediately before the appointed day, the person is to be treated as if, on the appointed day, the Board of Inland Revenue had registered him for payment under deduction.

(4)Subsection (5) applies in relation to the first payment (“the relevant payment”) made after the appointed day by a person (“C”) to a sub-contractor (“SC”) under a contract relating to construction operations if—

(a)before the appointed day, C had made one or more payments to SC under the contract or another such contract,

(b)the last of those payments (“the last payment”) was made in the year of assessment in which the relevant payment was made or in either of the two years of assessment before that,

(c)at the time of the last payment—

(i)a certificate issued to SC under section 561 of the Taxes Act 1988 was in force, or

(ii)a registration card issued to SC in accordance with regulations made under section 566(2A) of that Act was in force, and

(d)on making the relevant payment, C has no reason to believe that SC—

(i)did not become registered for gross payment or (as the case may be) for payment under deduction by virtue of subsection (2) or (3), and

(ii)is not still so registered.

(5)Where this subsection applies, regulations under section 69(1) shall not require C, before making the relevant payment, to verify whether SC is registered for gross payment or for payment under deduction.

(6)Where subsection (5) applies, C shall be entitled to assume, on making any further payments to SC under a contract relating to construction operations, that SC has not subsequently ceased to be so registered, unless notified to the contrary in accordance with regulations made under section 69(3).

(7)In this section “the appointed day” means such day as the Treasury may by order appoint.

(8)The Treasury may by order make such further supplemental and transitional provision and savings as they think fit in connection with the coming into effect of this Chapter.