Commentary on Sections Overview Overview
2863.This Chapter provides the rules about deduction of tax at source in relation to distributions treated as made from unauthorised unit trusts (UUTs) to their unit holders. It is based on sections 348, 349(1) and (1A) and 469 of ICTA.
2864.A unit trust is “unauthorised” if it does not have authorisation under FISMA to seek investment directly from members of the public. Nor is such a trust regulated under FISMA. “Unauthorised unit trust” is defined in section 989.
2865.The rules for UUTs differ from the rules relating to annual payments (with which they are related in the source legislation) in that the amount shown by the trust’s accounts as income for a distribution period is treated as having been paid to unit holders on the date prescribed by Chapter 10 of Part 4 of ITTOIA, regardless of whether it has been so paid in whole or in part. Any actual payments to unit holders are ignored.
2866.Chapter 10 of Part 4 of ITTOIA does not deal with these amounts treated as paid to unit holders by charging them as a type of annual payment. Instead, that Act imposes a separate charge to income tax on the unit holder. In accordance with that approach, Chapter 9 of Part 9 of this Act gives relief to the trustees of the UUT for such amounts.
2867.This Chapter deals with the payments treated as having been made as regards the deduction at source rules. In particular, such amounts are treated as having been paid under deduction of a sum representing income tax at the basic rate for the applicable tax year; there is no actual duty to deduct as in other Chapters of this Part.
2868.This Chapter also requires the tax to be collected under Self Assessment. Since the trustees of the UUT will have obtained relief by deduction from their taxable income for the amount of any grossed-up amounts treated as paid to unit holders, this tax will normally be most of the tax that they have to pay.
2869.Additionally, if the deemed payments in a tax year cannot be fully relieved because their taxable income is insufficient, there is provision for the trustees to take account of any excess of modified net income (defined in section 1025) in earlier tax years over the payments they are treated as having made in those years.