Commentary on Sections Structure of Chapters Overview Section 465: Person liable: individuals
1863.This section sets out three ways of holding or owning the rights under a policy or contract by virtue of any of which an individual may be liable to tax on the gain. Where an individual is so liable, the amount charged is treated as part of the individual’s “total income” (section 835 of ICTA). This section is based on section 547 of ICTA.
1864.Although unfettered beneficial ownership of the rights may be the most commonly met circumstance, policies and contracts are also commonly placed in trust for beneficiaries (whether for the settlor and/or other beneficiaries). Policies and contracts may also be used to secure a loan (such as a mortgage of property). If any of the three ways of holding or owning the rights applies, that is sufficient to attribute liability for tax on the gain to that individual. (But see section 467 when the rights are held on charitable trusts created by the individual.)
1865.Subsection (1) incorporates part of ESC B53. Under the concession, the Inland Revenue does not pursue liability to tax on a gain, where a non-UK resident individual is liable, in any of the circumstances mentioned in this subsection. The section achieves the same net effect by a different route. It simply limits attribution of liability to UK resident individuals, so that the non-UK resident individual is not liable to tax on the gain in the first place. See Change 88 in Annex 1.
1866.Chapter 1 of Part 4 of this Act provides a general territorial limitation on the scope of the Part. As regards income arising outside the United Kingdom, it limits the charge to such income arising to a UK resident. See section 368 (territorial scope of Part 4 charges) and the related commentary on that Chapter. This section overlaps and supplements that Chapter to ensure that a non-UK resident individual is not liable to tax under this Chapter on any gains, whether arising in the United Kingdom or elsewhere.
1867.Subsection (6) indicates that an individual is treated as creating a trust, for the purposes of this Chapter, when a policy or contract is placed in trust under any of three specific Acts. Such trusts are commonly created, for example, when a policy (such as a mortgage protection policy) is to benefit one or both parties to a marriage. But the subsection is not an exhaustive definition of all the circumstances in which trusts are created by an individual.