Introduction Overview Overview Section 977: Notice requiring payment of unpaid tax
2901.This section enables an officer of Revenue and Customs to serve notice on a related company requiring it to pay unpaid corporation tax due from the taxpayer company. It is based on paragraph 3 of Schedule 28 to FA 2000.
2902.Paragraph 3(1) of Schedule 28 to FA 2000 gives “the Board” (that is, the Commissioners for HMRC) the power to serve notice to pay unpaid corporation tax due from the taxpayer company. In practice, the Commissioners delegate this function to officers of Revenue and Customs, and subsection (1) reflects this. This is a minor change in the law without any practical implications; see Change 5 in Annex 1.
2903.Like the source legislation, subsection (1) provides that an officer “… may serve a notice …”. This gives officers the power, but not the obligation, to serve notice on related companies, and therefore allows HMRC to exercise managerial discretion.