ANNEX 1:: MINOR CHANGES IN THE LAW MADE BY THE BILL This change has no implications for the amount of tax paid, who pays it or when. It affects (in principle but not in practice) only administrative matters. Change 118: Transactions in land: clearance procedure: section 770
This change gives the Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs responsibility for granting or denying clearance concerning transactions in land.
Section 776 of ICTA is an anti-avoidance provision concerning transactions in land. Section 776(11) lays down a statutory clearance procedure. It provides that the taxpayer is to provide particulars of the transaction to “the inspector to whom he makes his return of income”.
This could cause theoretical difficulties if the taxpayer:
	is not legally obliged to file a self-assessment return;
	does not file a self-assessment return; and
	wishes to obtain clearance under section 776(11) of ICTA.
In practice, if the taxpayer makes a clearance application to the HMRC office dealing with that taxpayer’s affairs, that HMRC office will process the application.
Section 770, which is based on section 776(11) of ICTA, gives the responsibility for clearances concerning transactions in land to the Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, rather than the officer to whom the taxpayer makes a return of income. This is consistent with section 707 of ICTA (transactions in securities: clearance procedure), which is rewritten in sections 701 and 702.