Consultation on draft legislation for Finance Bill 2012

22 February 2012

Purpose of consultation

The Government has made a commitment to confirm the majority of Finance Bill measures at least three months prior to introduction, including the publication of draft legislation where possible. This consultation fulfils this commitment in advance of Finance Bill 2012.

The aim of this consultation process is to provide more certainty for taxpayers and greater window for scrutiny in advance of the legislative process. The Government would welcome comments to ensure the legislation works as intended. We are not seeking comments on the policy as part of the consultation.

Where policy consultations were held over the summer, links to the Government’s response documents are available below.

Update

The Government published the majority of draft legislation for Finance Bill 2012 measures on 6 December 2011. Since December, the Government has published further legislation for consultation for a small number of draft clauses set out below.

The Government has announced that it will introduce further legislation in Finance Bill 2012, effective from 22 February 2012, in connection with employer asset-backed pension contributions. The draft legislation, explanatory note and Tax Information and Impact Note are published below.

On 21 February the Government announced that legislation will be included in Finance Bill 2012 to introduce retrospective legislation to correct an omission in landfill tax legislation in relation to the definition of a landfill site in Scotland. This has resulted in Scottish sites not having been covered by landfill tax legislation since their waste disposal permit replaced their waste disposal licence, which occurred on a site-by-site basis in Scotland from 2004 onwards. The legislation will have retrospective effect back to 21 March 2000 and will bring Scottish legislation into line with the rest of the UK. No action is required by landfill site operators in Scotland or elsewhere in the UK and no additional burden will be placed upon them. The draft legislation, explanatory note and Tax Information and Impact Note are published below.

On 21 February the Government announced that the power to set Air Passenger Duty rates for direct long haul flights departing from Northern Ireland will be devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly. The draft legislation, explanatory note and Tax Information and Impact Note are published below.

On 20 February the Government announced that from 1 April 2012 the use of red diesel to propel private pleasure craft will be allowed only within United Kingdom waters. The draft legislation, explanatory note and Tax Information and Impact Note are published below.

The Government announced that it will introduce legislation in Finance Bill 2012, effective from 12 January 2012, to counter tax avoidance that relies on post-cessation trade relief. The draft legislation, explanatory note and Tax Information and Impact Note are published below.

On 31 January 2012, the Government published a policy update document and revised draft legislation for the reform of the controlled foreign companies rules. A copy of the revised draft legislation and a file highlighting where changes have been made to the previous draft are available below.

Draft legislation for the capital gains tax holiday for the new Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme and further draft legislation for VAT online registration has also been published on 31 January.

The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Mr David Gauke) announced in a written ministerial statement on Tuesday 10 January 2012 that the Finance Bill will be published on Thursday 29 March.

Written Ministerial Statement

Contacts

If you wish to comment on any of the draft legislation, please use the contact details provided at the end of each explanatory note.

If you have any comments on the consultation process, please email fbteam@hmtreasury.gsi.gov.uk

Documents

The overview document provides a summary of the draft legislation published, alongside updates on measures that will be included in the Finance Bill, but where draft legislation is not being published at this stage. The document also includes a Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) for each measure, which explain what the measure does, why it is proposed and what its impacts are.

Overview of draft legislation for Finance Bill 2012 (PDF file 3.54MB)

The draft legislation and explanatory notes are published separately. Explanatory notes are intended to assist the reader in understanding the legislation, but are not meant to be a comprehensive description of the legislation. So, where a section or part of a section does not seem to require any explanation or comment, none is given.

Draft legislation and explanatory notes (PDF 7MB) Please note this document is a large file and may take sometime to download.

In addition, we have provided the same information separately for each measure. Each piece of draft legislation below is accompanied in the same document by a draft explanatory note and a TIIN.

Personal tax

Philanthropy and charities

Corporate tax

Indirect tax

Anti-avoidance

Tax administration

Simplification: repeals

Written Ministerial Statement

Alongside the draft clauses for Finance Bill 2012 published today, the Government has issued the following written statement.

29 November 2011

Draft legislation for Finance Bill 2012 will be published on 6 December. One of the provisions to be included in that Bill takes effect from 29 November 2011. The legislation, explanatory note and Tax Information and Impact Note are published below.

The Government has also issued the following statement announcing this measure.

Written ministerial statement by the Financial Secretary to the Treasury: employer asset-backed pension contributions (PDF 19KB)