Explanatory note

These Regulations amend the description of certain tax avoidance arrangements in the Indirect Taxes (Notifiable Arrangements) Regulations 2017 (“the 2017 Regulations”).

The Finance (No. 2) Act 2017 (“the Act”) makes provision for the disclosure of tax avoidance schemes for VAT and other indirect taxes. The Act requires specified persons to disclose information to HMRC in relation to arrangements or proposed arrangements that enable, or might be expected to enable, a person to obtain a tax advantage. Under the Act, the duty of such persons to disclose information arises where the arrangements in relation to which they are involved fall within any description prescribed by the Treasury by regulations.

The Treasury made provision describing the arrangements notifiable under the Act in the 2017 Regulations and, in regulations 5 and 6, described VAT avoidance arrangements relating to offshore supplies.

The description of those arrangements makes reference to supplies of services made from one person to another. Under section 43(1)(a) of the Value Added Tax Act 1994 (“VATA”), supplies made by a member of a VAT group to another member of the group are disregarded for VAT purposes. The amendments made by regulations 3 and 4 of these Regulations establish that, where reference is made to supplies in regulations 5 and 6 of the 2017 Regulations, the term includes supplies that would otherwise fall to be disregarded by virtue of section 43(1)(a) of VATA.

Transitional provision is made in regulation 5(1) of these Regulations to ensure that the amendments do not apply in relation to cases where the duty to notify the tax avoidance arrangements described in regulations 5 or 6 of the 2017 Regulations arises before the day on which these Regulations come into force.

Further transitional provision is made in the remaining paragraphs of regulation 5 to ensure that the amendments do not apply in relation to certain events (for which provision is made in Schedule 17 to the Act) if those events occur before the day on which these Regulations come into force.

A Tax Information and Impact Note has not been prepared for this instrument as it contains no substantive changes to tax policy.