Corporation Tax Act 2010

Becoming a UK REIT

523Notice for a group of companies to become a UK REIT

(1)A group of companies becomes a group UK REIT if the principal company of the group gives a notice under this section.

(2)A notice under this section is a notice specifying a date from which the group is to be a UK REIT.

(3)The principal company of a group may only give a notice under this section if—

(a)it is a UK company, and

(b)section 236 of FISMA 2000 (open-ended investment companies) does not apply to it.

(4)If the principal company of a group gives a notice under this section, the group is a UK REIT from the date specified in the notice.

(5)In this Part “group UK REIT” means a group of companies the principal company of which has given a notice under this section.

(6)This section is subject to section 527(2) (requirements to be a group UK REIT).

524Notice for a company to become a UK REIT

(1)A company becomes a company UK REIT if it gives a notice under this section.

(2)A notice under this section is a notice specifying a date from which the company is to be a UK REIT.

(3)A company may only give a notice under this section if—

(a)it is a UK company, and

(b)section 236 of FISMA 2000 (open-ended investment companies) does not apply to it.

(4)If a company gives a notice under this section, the company is a UK REIT from the date specified in the notice.

(5)In this Part “company UK REIT” means a company which has given a notice under this section.

(6)This section is subject to section 527(3) (requirements to be a company UK REIT).

525Notice under section 523 or 524: supplementary

(1)A notice under section 523 or 524—

(a)must be given in writing to an officer of Revenue and Customs,

(b)must be given before the date specified in the notice,

(c)must be accompanied by a statement by the company giving the notice that each of the conditions in section 528 (conditions for company) is reasonably expected to be met in relation to the company throughout accounting period 1, and

(d)must contain such other information, and be accompanied by such other documents, as may be prescribed by regulations made by the Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.

(2)Subsection (3) applies if the company giving the notice—

(a)does not expect to meet condition C in section 528 on the first day of accounting period 1, but

(b)reasonably expects to meet that condition throughout the rest of accounting period 1.

(3)If this subsection applies—

(a)subsection (1)(c) does not apply, but

(b)the notice must be accompanied by a statement by the company containing the assertions specified in subsection (4).

(4)Those assertions are—

(a)that conditions A, B, D, E and F in section 528 are reasonably expected to be met in relation to the company throughout accounting period 1, and

(b)that condition C in that section is reasonably expected to be met in relation to the company for at least a part of the first day of accounting period 1, and throughout the remainder of the period.

(5)Subsection (6) applies if the company giving the notice—

(a)does not expect to meet condition D in section 528 on the first day of accounting period 1, but

(b)reasonably expects to meet that condition throughout the rest of accounting period 1 in reliance on section 446(1)(b).

(6)If this subsection applies—

(a)subsection (1)(c) does not apply, but

(b)the notice must be accompanied by a statement by the company containing the assertions specified in subsection (7).

(7)Those assertions are—

(a)that conditions A, B, C, E and F in section 528 are reasonably expected to be met in relation to the company throughout accounting period 1, and

(b)that condition D in that section is reasonably expected to be met in relation to the company throughout all of accounting period 1 apart from the first day.

(8)A company may take advantage both of subsections (2) to (4) and of subsections (5) to (7) (in which case the assertion under subsection (4)(a) should omit the reference to condition D and the assertion under subsection (7)(a) should omit the reference to Condition C).

(9)For the meaning of “accounting period 1”, see section 609.

526Duration of status as UK REIT

Once a group or a company becomes a UK REIT, the group or company continues to be a UK REIT until it ceases to be a UK REIT in accordance with section 571, 572 or 578.